Implications for the Placenta in Neurobehavioral Development

• In Event: 2-123 - The Placenta and Child Development

Integrative Statement

Introduction: An overview of the placenta – its function and assessment – for the general child development audience will be highlighted. As such, it will provide context for the empirical papers that follow. A basic biological discussion of the placenta, the anchor, conduit and controller of the pregnancy will be defined. In utero development and delivery will be discussed in modest detail with special reference to some essential elements of a healthy pregnancy and some ways in which the placenta can influence both child and maternal biology. For example, before implantation, the trophectoderm needs to produce human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) to replace the loss of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the mother, which stimulates the ovarian follicle to produce progesterone to maintain the endometrium for implantation. Thus, the mother is beginning to lose control of her pregnancy to the placenta.

Methods & Results: Many methods for assessing the placenta have been devised. This presentation will discuss a leading protocol for placental measurement, which is the basis for both the National Children’s Study and ECHO collaborative study on early exposures and child health outcomes. The aim is to provide some specific and practical lessons and strategies for what signals and markers may be derived from the placenta, and how these are optimally obtained. Examples of how placenta shape, vascularization and angiogenesis, inflammation and gene expression can be assessed will be briefly described. The presentation will also address what is particular and different about human (primate) placentae will be addressed in comparison with other species typical studied, e.g., rodents, and why human research has, in some important ways, no plausible experimental animal substitute.

The presentation will also provide findings to illustrate the integral relationships between mother - placenta – fetus by focusing on the CNS through the study of selected neurotoxic agents, e.g., cadmium, tellurium, retinoids, immune and viral responses. In addition, illustrative examples from research on nutrition will be discussed. For example, the role of certain vitamins and child health and brain development are well-known, e.g., Folate and Niacin (B6) are known to play critical roles in neurodevelopment alongside Cyanocobalamin (B12). Transport of these vitamins across the placenta to the fetus will be defined. A case illustration of a woman with B12 deficiency that was “temporarily cured” by her placenta will be reported to demonstrate the active metabolic role of the placenta in maternal and child health.

Authors

• Richard Kermit Miller, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
  Presenting Author

• Thomas O'Connor, University of Rochester
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carolyn Salafia, Placental Analytics
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rogelio Perez D'Gregorio, University of Rochester Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author