Gestational exposure to unmethylated CpG oligonucleotides dysregulates placental molecular clock network and fetoplacental growth dynamics, and disrupts maternal blood pressure circadian rhythms in rats.

Bacterial infections and impaired mitochondrial DNA dynamics are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Unmethylated cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) motifs are common in bacterial and mitochondrial DNA and act as potent immunostimulators. Here, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to CpG oligonucleotides (ODN) during pregnancy would disrupt blood pressure circadian rhythms and the placental molecular clock machinery, mediating aberrant fetoplacental growth dynamics. Rats were repeatedly treated with CpG ODN in the 3 rdppppPer2Per3Tnfαp