Dose-response effects of betamethasone on maturation of the fetal sheep lung

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2009.09.033 Byline: Matthias Loehle (a), Matthias Schwab (a), Susan Kadner (b), Kristal M. Maner (c), Jeffrey S. Gilbert (d), J. Thomas Brenna (c), Stephen P. Ford (e), Peter W. Nathanielsz (d), Mark J. Nijland (d) Keywords: antenatal glucocorticoids; glucocorticoid formulation; lung maturation Abstract: Glucocorticoid administration to women in preterm labor improves neonatal mortality and morbidity. Fetal exposure to glucocorticoid levels higher than those appropriate to the current gestational stage has multiple organ system effects. Some, eg, fetal hypertension, are maximal at lower than the clinical dose. We hypothesized that the clinical dose has supramaximal lung maturational effects. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Neurology, University of Jena, Jena, Germany (b) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY (c) Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (d) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX (e) Department of Animal Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY Article History: Received 14 January 2009; Revised 11 June 2009; Accepted 28 September 2009 Article Note: (footnote) This study was supported by Grant NIH Heart Lung Blood Institute 068649, NHLBI, NIH, HHS., Reprints not available from the authors., Cite this article as: Loehle M, Schwab M, Kadner S, et al. Dose-response effects of betamethasone on maturation of the fetal sheep lung. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;202:186.e1-7.