Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
Instrumentation of Near-term Fetal Sheep for Multivariate Chronic Non-anesthetized Recordings
Published on: October 25, 2015
Human amnion epithelial cells reduce ventilation-induced preterm lung injury in fetal sheep
Ryan J Hodges1, Graham Jenkin, Stuart B Hooper
1The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Objective:
The objective of the study was to explore whether human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) can mitigate ventilation-induced lung injury.
Study Design:
An established in utero ovine model of ventilation-induced lung injury was used. At day 110 of gestation, singleton fetal lambs either had sham in utero ventilation (IUV) (n = 4), 12 hours of IUV alone (n = 4), or 12 hours of IUV and hAEC administration (n = 5). The primary outcome, structural lung injury, was assessed 1 week later.
Results:
Compared with sham controls, IUV alone was associated with significant lung injury: increased collagen (P = .03), elastin (P = .02), fibrosis (P = .02), and reduced secondary-septal crests (P = .009). This effect of IUV was significantly mitigated by the administration of hAECs: less collagen (P = .03), elastin (P = .04), fibrosis (P = .02), normalized secondary-septal crests (P = .02). The hAECs were immunolocalized within the fetal lung and had differentiated into type I and II alveolar cells.
Conclusion:
The hAECs mitigate ventilation-induced lung injury and differentiated into alveolar cells in vivo.
