Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Induction of Maternal Immune Activation in Mice at Mid-gestation Stage with Viral Mimic PolyI:C
Published on: March 25, 2016
Maternal vitamin D deficiency during rat gestation elicits a milder phenotype compared to the mouse model:
Rachael C Crew1, Ana Rakonjac1, Dijana Tesic1
1School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Australia.
Maternal vitamin D deficiency disturbs fetal development and programmes neurodevelopmental complications in offspring, possibly through increased fetal glucocorticoid exposure. We aimed to determine whether prenatal exposure to excess glucocorticoids underlies our rat model of early-life vitamin D deficiency, leading to altered adult behaviours. Vitamin D deficiency reduced the expression of the glucocorticoid-inactivating enzyme Hsd11b2 in the female placenta, but did not alter maternal glucocorticoid levels, feto-placental weights, or placental expression of other glucocorticoid-related genes at mid-gestation. This differs to the phenotype previously observed in vitamin D deficient mice, and highlights important modelling considerations.
Maternal vitamin D deficiency disturbs fetal development and programmes neurodevelopmental complications in offspring, possibly through increased fetal glucocorticoid exposure. We aimed to determine whether prenatal exposure to excess glucocorticoids underlies our rat model of early-life vitamin D deficiency, leading to altered adult behaviours. Vitamin D deficiency reduced the expression of the glucocorticoid-inactivating enzyme Hsd11b2 in the female placenta, but did not alter maternal glucocorticoid levels, feto-placental weights, or placental expression of other glucocorticoid-related genes at mid-gestation. This differs to the phenotype previously observed in vitamin D deficient mice, and highlights important modelling considerations.
Related Concept Videos
07:13Induction of Maternal Immune Activation in Mice at Mid-gestation Stage with Viral Mimic Poly(I:C)
07:04Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface
06:55Assessment of Maternal Vascular Remodeling During Pregnancy in the Mouse Uterus
07:39Mouse In Vivo Placental Targeted CRISPR Manipulation
09:33Three-dimensional Rendering and Analysis of Immunolabeled, Clarified Human Placental Villous Vascular Networks
06:43High Frequency Ultrasound for the Analysis of Fetal and Placental Development In Vivo

