Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Many studies have shown that iron-deficiency during pregnancy, which occurs in approximately 1 in 4 Canadian women, has long-lasting impacts on offspring health; the lasting effects of anemia in pregnancy include cognitive deficits, high blood pressure, and increased susceptibility for obesity. Iron is essential for many functions in the body, including the transport of oxygen by the red blood cell protein hemoglobin. Our results, which are to be presented at the 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation, show that perinatal iron-deficiency has a detrimental effect on offspring blood pressure and kidney function. Furthermore, the added stress of poor nutrition in adulthood in the form of a high-salt diet causes additional increases in blood pressure and kidney dysfunction. Our results show that male offspring exhibit increased blood pressure due to both a high-salt diet and exposure to iron-deficiency during development, whereas female offspring are more resilient. Similarly, female kidneys do not generate damaging cellular reactive oxygen species like their male counterparts due to exposure to iron-deficiency or high-salt. In males, the increases in blood pressure and reactive oxygen species occur simultaneously with alterations in cellular metabolism within the kidney, whereas females remain unaffected. Together, our results suggest that perinatal iron-deficiency causes increased susceptibility for developing cardiovascular disease in adult offspring., particularly in males. Furthermore, this work highlights the need to take into account sex when exploring the mechanisms through which chronic disease susceptibility is assessed.