Objective    To explore the effect of prenatal inflammation on vascular remolding and blood pressure in mid-aged rats.     Methods    Time-mated pregnant Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 2 groups

received peritoneal injection of 0.79 mg/kg LPS on the gestation days 8

10

and 12

or same volume of the sterile saline at the same time points. Nine pups were randomly selected from each group for the later experiments

and the offspring were named as LPS groups for those having prenatal LPS exposure and control group for those having not. Their blood pressure was determined with a rat tail non-invasive instrument by tail-cuff method from 6 weeks old to 35 weeks old

and then their aortas were taken out for media thickness (MT)

diameter of lumen (LD)

and the ratios of MT/LD. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) on the vessel was detected by ELISA. The serum level of NO and plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) were measured by nitrate reductase and radioimmunoassay respectively.     Results    Compared with control group

LPS groups had significantly raised blood pressure

a significantly higher ratio of MT/LD

obviously increased expression of PCNA

and markedly elevated serum ET-1.     Conclusion    The offspring whose prenatal rats were exposured to LPS result in vascular remolding

vasofunctional disturbances and hypertension.