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American Heart Association

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Final ID: Tue187

Investigating Longitudinal Changes in Maternal Cardiac Strain in a Gestational nano-Titanium Dioxide Exposure Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction.

Abstract Body: Nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) is an established vascular toxicant and is also known to impair fetal growth and development when exposed in-utero. These impairments cause an intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) phenotype. IUGR in pregnancy leads women to be at higher risk for the development of cardiovascular disease for the remainder of their lives. Utilizing longitudinal echocardiography, maternal function was tracked through a gestational model of nano-TiO2 inhalation. Timed-pregnant dams received six nonconsecutive days of whole-body aerosol inhalation after gestational day (GD) 10 at a targeted concentration of 12mg/m3 nano-TiO2 or sham air (25 mL/m) as controls. Particulate aerosolization was accomplished with an acoustic generator, with concentrations being held constant with the aid of a dataRAM™ aerosol monitor. Immediately following exposure on GD 13,15,17, and 20, animals were assessed for cardiovascular function via ultrasound assessment on a Vevo F2 preclinical ultrasound system using a 29MHz transducer. Motion analysis was used for maternal and fetal cardiac function, with brightness mode acquisitions supplementing maternal cardiac function and speckle-tracking analysis for assessment of cardiac strain. Uterine artery flow data was also assessed using doppler assessment. Exposed dams presented with significantly decreased cardiac output (62.05±3.79 mL/min vs. 75.36 ±6.37mL/min controls) beginning at GD 17 and further declining (49.64±4.50 mL/min vs. 70.92±2.52 mL/min) near term at GD 20 Uterine artery resistance index was significantly decreased in exposed (0.54±0.02 RI) versus control (0.67±0.10 RI) dams at GD 20. Global radial strain was significantly decreased in exposed dams compared to air controls, with largest adaptations in endocardial velocity observed in proximal and middle heart portions. The ability to monitor cardiovascular adaptations of pregnancy during maternal toxicological stress, through the placenta and into the developing fetus provides a powerful tool that may be advantageous for limiting inter-subject variability within cardiovascular health during gestation and beyond.
  • Hunter, Russell  ( West Virginia University , Morgantown , West Virginia , United States )
  • Author Disclosures:
Meeting Info:

Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2026

2026

Boston, Massachusetts

Session Info:

Poster Session 2

Tuesday, 07/14/2026 , 04:30PM - 07:00PM

Poster Session and Reception

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