Targeting progesterone receptors in newborn males and females: from the animal model to a new perspective for the treatment of apnea of prematurity?

We present original data showing that in newborn rats, selective nPR or mPR agonists are more efficient to reduce apnea frequency at postnatal days 12 than at postnatal day 1, and appear more efficient in males than in females. Furthermore, new results obtained by using intra-cisternal injection of specific siRNA targeting mPRα, mPRβ (two mPR with high brain expression) or nPR suggest that mPRβ regulates the stability of the breathing pattern in males, while effects of nPR appears in females. While several important questions remain to be addressed before a safe clinical use could be proposed, these results highlight the potential role of these drugs as complementary, and sex-specific tools for the treatment of apnea in preterm neonates.
Source: Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research