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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Determination of the Transport Rate of Xenobiotics and Nanomaterials Across the Placenta using the ex vivo Human Placental Perfusion Model
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Determination of the Transport Rate of Xenobiotics and Nanomaterials Across the Placenta using the ex vivo Human Placental Perfusion Model

Published on: June 18, 2013

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Assessment of Placental Transport Function in Studies of Disease Programming

Amanda N Sferruzzi-Perri1

  • 1Centre for Trophoblast Research, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. ans48@cam.ac.uk.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|January 31, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Environmental factors during pregnancy impact fetal development and offspring health. Measuring placental nutrient transfer in vivo in mice helps understand fetal growth regulation and in utero disease programming.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive biology
  • Developmental biology
  • Maternal-fetal medicine

Background:

  • Pregnancy environment influences fetal growth and long-term health.
  • The placenta is crucial for nutrient transfer and fetal development.
  • Understanding maternofetal transfer is key to fetal growth regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe a method for quantifying in vivo placental transfer function in mice.
  • To provide a tool for studying in utero disease programming.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing non-metabolizable radio-analogues of glucose and amino acids.
  • Measuring unidirectional maternofetal transfer in vivo.
  • Applying the technique in a mouse model.

Main Results:

  • The described method allows for quantification of placental transfer function.
  • This technique is applicable to mouse models used in developmental programming studies.

Conclusions:

  • In vivo measurement of placental transfer is vital for understanding fetal growth.
  • The described mouse model method aids research into pregnancy-related health outcomes.

Keywords:
Amino acidGlucoseIntrauterine growth restrictionNutrient allocationOvergrowthPlacentaTransport

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