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Alterations in the mRNA Expression of the Epidermal Growth Factor Family in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia 304

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) leads to profound and often fatal pulmonary hypoplasia. However the mechanism by which growth is inhibited at a cellular level is not known. The epidermal growth factor family is believed to have a significant role in fetal lung growth. We investigated whether alterations in expression in this growth factor family may play a role in pulmonary hypoplasia in CDH. We used a fetal rat model of CDH induced by administering 2,4, dichlorophenyl-p-nitrophenyl ether (Nitrofen) to 7 pregnant rat mothers on day 11 of a 21 day gestation. The lungs were harvested on day 21 and compared to littermates without CDH. We performed RT-PCR on the mRNA of the CDH and non-CDH lungs for epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor α (TGFα), and their receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The PCR bands were normalized to β actin PCR bands and converted to densitometric units. The data are mean±s.e.m. and were compared by paired t-tests.