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Maternal Nicotine Exposure Induces Congenital Heart Defects In The Offspring Of Mice, Elizabeth Greco
Maternal Nicotine Exposure Induces Congenital Heart Defects In The Offspring Of Mice, Elizabeth Greco
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Congenital heart defects are the most prevalent birth defect, and maternal cigarette smoking is a known risk factor. Nicotine replacement therapies are recommended to pregnant women who smoke to aid in smoking cessation, as this alternative is thought to be much safer compared to cigarette smoking. However, these products contain nicotine, and the safety of nicotine on the developing heart is not well known. In this thesis, a mouse model was used to test the hypothesis that maternal nicotine exposure (MNE) during pregnancy leads to congenital heart defects and coronary artery defects in the offspring of mice. MNE resulted in …
Novel Video Imaging To Examine Cardiac Function In Xenopus Embryos, Judith Sull
Novel Video Imaging To Examine Cardiac Function In Xenopus Embryos, Judith Sull
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Congenital heart defects (CHDs) occur in approximately 1% of live births and the etiology has been associated with disturbances in cardiogenesis. However, the majority of research examining CHDs relies on static morphological data, which does not elucidate how defects alter cardiac function. I used Xenopus laevis embryos to examine the association between CHDs and functional alterations using a novel imaging system that can obtain high- resolution images through a non-invasive procedure. A high-speed video camera and software were used to assess cardiac function, permitting functional characterization of late Xenopus cardiogenesis. Verification of the imaging system’s ability to detect changes in …