Prenatal brain development: effect of maternal growth hormone administration. Study in albino rats

Growth hormone (GH) was administered to pregnant rats maintained on a standard diet, and fetal brain growth and placenta weight were examined. The results show that maternal GH administration resulted in an increase of placental weight and fetal brain cell number. A significant positive correlations of placental weight with elevated brain weight of fetus suggests that the maternal growth hormone treatment might influence fetal brain development and it may be mediated by the placenta.