UF pharmacy researchers receives federal funds to study physiologic changes during pregnancy

The National Institutes of Health has awarded University of Florida pharmacy Professor Maureen Keller-Wood, Ph.D., nearly $2.7 million to study the physiology of fetal development and pregnancy.

Keller-Wood, chairwoman of the UF College of Pharmacy’s department of pharmacodynamics, received a five-year grant for nearly $1.5 million to begin new research that may someday lead to improved treatments for premature babies, and almost $1.2 million more through a four-year grant renewal to continue her research on the effects of stress and hormones during pregnancy.

Much of Keller-Wood’s research focuses on two receptors found in the brain and the pituitary gland, the mineralcorticoid receptor and the glucocorticoid receptor. Also located in organs such as the kidney and heart, these receptors regulate blood pressure, appetite, mood, and fluid, electrolyte and blood glucose levels.

Keller-Wood’s research team wants to learn more about how the mineralcorticoid receptor regulates fluid balance and electrolyte levels in the sheep fetus. The scientists also will study ways the receptor affects fetal lung and gastrointestinal development.

“Our long-term research goal is to understand the role of the mineralcorticoid receptor in lung and intestinal development in the (human) fetus,” Keller-Wood said. “This could improve or change the type of drugs used to treat premature babies, reducing health risks due to early birth.”

Currently, only glucocorticoid receptor-binding drugs such as betamethasone and dexamethasone are given when premature birth is likely. But this treatment has limitations because too much of the drug can harm a baby’s brain.

Keller-Wood will use the four-year grant renewal to continue looking at how progesterone, a steroidal hormone produced by the placenta that binds to both receptors, could change the action of the stress hormone cortisol in pregnancy.

Keller-Wood is interested in whether progesterone changes how cortisol affects levels of serotonin receptors in the brain of the mother. Serotonin receptors are important in elevating mood, as well as controlling stress responses, which involves secretion of adrenal hormones. This research could lead to a better understanding of how women respond to stress in pregnancy and how steroidal hormones affect mood.