Investigation of conditions regulating conceptus growth, pregnancy maintenance, and the initiation of labor are necessary to address the alarming rate of infant morbidity and mortality associated with human fetal prematurity. Therefore, in our laboratory, we utilize in vivo and in vitro paradigms, combined with molecular methodologies, to elucidate mechanisms regulating the endocrinology of pregnancy.

Specific Research Interests

• Regulation of hormone biosynthesis in the primate maternal-fetoplacental unit
• Factors controlling the maintenance of pregnancy and timing of parturition
• Leptin in pregnancy

Representative Publications

The Baboon (Papio sp.) As a Model for Mechanisms Regulating the Endocrinology of Human Pregnancy and the Maternal-Fetoplacental Unit

Henson MC: Pregnancy maintenance and the regulation of placental progesterone biosynthesis in the baboon. Human Reproduction Update 4:389-405, 1998 (republished with permission in Excerpts on Human Reproduction, no. 1, May 1999, "Reproduction in the Baboon", pp. 67-83, Firyal S. Kahn [Ed])

Shi W, Swan KF, Lear SR, O'Neil JS, Erickson SK, Henson MC: Regulation of pathways determining cholesterol availability in the baboon placenta with advancing gestation. Biology of Reproduction 61: 1499-1505, 1999

Shi W, Swan KF, Henson MC: Expression of placental transcripts for low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein and scavenger receptors AI/AII in the baboon. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 188:1211-1213, 2003

Investigation of Placental Endocrinology Through Use of a Human Placental Cell Culture Model

Jolibois LS, Shi W, George WJ, Henson MC, Anderson MB: Cadmium accumulation and effects on progesterone release by cultured human trophoblast cells. Reproductive Toxicology 13:215-221, 1999

Jolibois LS, Burow ME, Swan KF, George WJ, Anderson MB, Henson MC: Effects of cadmium on cell viability, trophoblastic development, and expression of low density lipoprotein receptor transcripts in cultured human placental cells. Reproductive Toxicology 13:473-480, 1999

Henson MC, Anderson MB: The effects of cadmium on placental endocrine function. Recent Research Developments in Endocrinology Vol. 1, pp. 37-47, 2000 Transworld Research Network, S.G. Pandalai [Ed]

Kawai M, Swan KF, Green AE, Edwards DE, Anderson MB, Henson MC: Placental endocrine disruption induced by cadmium: effects of p450-cholesterol side-chain cleavage and 3ß - hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes in cultured human trophoblasts. Biology of Reproduction 67:178-183, 2002


Leptin in Primate Pregnancy

Henson MC, Swan KF, O'Neil JS: Expression of placental leptin and leptin receptor transcripts in early pregnancy and at term. Obstetrics and Gynecology 92:1020-1028, 1998

Henson MC, Castracane VD, O'Neil JS, Gimpel T, Swan KF, Green AE, Shi W: Serum leptin concentrations and expression of leptin transcripts in placental trophoblast with advancing baboon pregnancy. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 84:2543-2549, 1999

Green AE, O'Neil JS, Bohm Jr. RP, Ratterree MS, Swan, Henson MC: Leptin receptor transcripts are constitutively expressed in placenta and adipose tissue with advancing baboon pregnancy. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 223:362-366, 2000

Henson MC, Castracane VD: Leptin in pregnancy, Biology of Reproduction 63: 1219-1228, 2000

O'Neil JS, Burow ME, Green AE, McLachlan JA, Henson MC: Effects of estrogen on leptin gene promoter activation in MCF-7 breast cancer and JEG-3 choriocarcinoma cells: selective regulation via estrogen receptors a and b. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 176:67-75,2001

O'Neil JS, Green AE, Edwards DE, Swan KF, Gimpel T, Castracane VD, Henson MC: Regulation of leptin and leptin receptor in baboon pregnancy: effects of advancing gestation and fetectomy. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 86:2518-2524, 2001

Castracane VD, Henson MC: When did leptin become a reproductive hormone? In: Leptin and Reproduction, B.R. Carr [Ed], V.D. Castracane and M.C. Henson [Guest Eds], Seminars in Reproductive Medicine 20:89-92, 2002

Henson MC, Castracane VD: Leptin roles and regulation in primate pregnancy. In: Leptin and Reproduction, B.R. Carr [Ed], V.D. Castracane and M.C. Henson [Guest Eds], Seminars in Reproductive Medicine 20:113-122, 2002

Leptin and Reproduction, Michael C. Henson and V. Daniel Castracane [Eds] From: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers