Intrauterine inflammation and postnatal intravenous dopamine alter the neurovascular unit in preterm newborn lambs

Intrauterine inflammation is considered a major cause of brain injury in preterm infants, leading to long-term neurodevelopmental deficits. A potential contributor to this brain injury is dysregulation of neurovascular coupling. We have shown that intrauterine inflammation induced by intra-amniotic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in preterm lambs, and postnatal dopamine administration, disrupts neurovascular coupling and the functional cerebral haemodynamic responses, potentially leading to impaired brain development. In this study, we aimed to characterise the structural changes of the neurovascular unit following intrauterine LPS exposure and postnatal dopamine administration in the brain of preterm lambs using cellular and molecular analyses.

LPS exposure and dopamine administration independently alters the neurovascular unit in the preterm brain. Alterations to the neurovascular unit may predispose the developing brain to further injury.

At 119-120 days of gestation (term = 147 days), LPS was administered into the amniotic sac in pregnant ewes. At 126-7 days of gestation, the LPS-exposed lambs were delivered, ventilated and given either a continuous intravenous infusion of dopamine at 10 µg/kg/min or isovolumetric vehicle solution for 90 min (LPS, n = 6; LPSDA, n = 6). Control preterm lambs not exposed to LPS were also administered vehicle or dopamine (CTL, n = 9; CTLDA, n = 7). Post-mortem brain tissue was collected 3-4 h after birth for immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR analysis of components of the neurovascular unit.

LPS exposure increased vascular leakage in the presence of increased vascular density and remodelling with increased astrocyte "end feet" vessel coverage, together with downregulated mRNA levels of the tight junction proteins Claudin-1 and Occludin. Dopamine administration decreased vessel density and size, decreased endothelial glucose transporter, reduced neuronal dendritic coverage, increased cell proliferation within vessel walls, and increased pericyte vascular coverage particularly within the cortical and deep grey matter. Dopamine also downregulated VEGFA and Occludin tight junction mRNA, and upregulated dopamine receptor DRD1 and oxidative protein (NOX1, SOD3) mRNA levels. Dopamine administration following LPS exposure did not exacerbate any effects induced by LPS.