Morphology and Contractility of the Murine Heart: Are Changes in Pregnancy-Induced Cardiac Function Exacerbated After Two Pregnancies?

Rachel M Weil

OAI: oai:digitalcommons.ursinus.edu:biology_hon-1025

The female body undergoes a multitude of physiological changes during pregnancy to compensate for the growing fetus. Some of the most interesting changes occur in the cardiovascular system. Increases in blood volume create a volume overload in the female heart which leads to hypertrophy. A small subset of women experience cardiac pathologies during and after pregnancy, even though the changes that happen in the female heart during pregnancy are thought to be adaptive. This study looks to understand the changes in contractile function that occur in murine heart during pregnancy and if these contractile changes are exacerbated after a second pregnancy.

Pregnancy cardiac hypertrophy Biology Life Sciences