Michael C. Henson Ph.D.

Office: Gyte 297
Telephone: (219) 989-2260
Email: henson@calumet.purdue.edu

Education

B.S. University of Tennessee – Martin, Animal Science - 1976
M.S. University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Animal Science/Physiology - 1981
Ph.D. University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, Animal Science/Physiology - 1985

Research

       The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and foundational sources have supported our research, which addresses mechanisms controlling the maintenance of pregnancy and the endocrinology of the human maternal-fetoplacental unit.  Investigation of conditions regulating conceptus growth, pregnancy maintenance, and the initiation of normal labor is necessary to address the alarming rate of infant morbidity and mortality associated with human fetal growth restriction and prematurity. Therefore, we have utilized both in vivo (human, baboon, and rhesus monkey) and in vitro (human placental cell culture) paradigms, combined with both traditional and molecular methodologies, to elucidate mechanisms regulating the endocrinology of human pregnancy.  In this capacity, we have delineated estrogen’s role in maintaining progesterone synthesis via the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor in the placental syncytiotrophoblast, as well as the potential for alternate cholesterol sources to fuel the progesterone production necessary to maintain threatened pregnancies. 

Professional Society Memberships

American Society of Animal Science, 1979 – 1993
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1981 - present
Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, 1984 - present
Society for the Study of Reproduction, 1985 – present
Endocrine Society, 1991 – present
Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1995 - 2001
International Federation of Placenta Associations - Individual Member, 1995 - present
Society for Gynecologic Investigation, 2000 - present
Placenta Association of the Americas, 2001 – present

Selected Publications (since 2000)

(abstracts are linked to authors name, please click to view)

Green AE, O’Neil JS, Swan KF, Bohm Jr. RP, Ratterree MS, 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, Anderson MB:  The effects of cadmium on placental endocrine function.  In:  Recent Research Developments in Endocrinology Vol. 1, pp. 37-47, Transworld Research Network, S.G. Pandalai [Ed], Trivandrum, India, 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

Kawai M, Swan KF, Green AE, Edwards DE, Anderson MB, Henson MC:  Placental endocrine disruption induced by cadmium:  effects on P450 - cholesterol side-chain cleavage and 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes in cultured human trophoblasts.  Biology of Reproduction 67:178-183, 2002

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

Henson MC, Castracane VD, Edwards DE:  Leptin: from satiety signal to reproductive regulator.  In: Leptin and Reproduction, M.C. Henson and V.D. Castracane [Eds.], pp. 3-12, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, N.Y., 2003

Castracane VD, Henson MC:  Regulation of leptin and leptin receptor in the human uterus:  Possible roles in implantation and uterine pathology.  In:  Leptin and Reproduction, M.C. Henson and V.D. Castracane [Eds.], pp. 111-115, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, N.Y., 2003

Henson MC, Castracane VD:  Leptin in primate pregnancy.  In:  Leptin and Reproduction, M.C. Henson and V.D. Castracane [Eds.], pp. 239-263, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, N.Y., 2003

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

Henson MC, Swan KF, Edwards DE, Hoyle GW, Purcell J, Castracane VD:  Leptin receptor expression in fetal lung increases in late gestation in the baboon:  a model for human pregnancy.  Reproduction 127:87-94, 2004

Henson MC, Chedrese PJ:  Endocrine disruption by cadmium, a common environmental toxicant with paradoxical effects on reproduction.  Experimental Biology and Medicine 229:383-392, 2004

Edwards DE, Bohm Jr. RP, Purcell J, Ratterree MS, Swan KF, Castracane VD, Henson MC:  Two isoforms of the leptin receptor are enhanced in pregnancy specific tissues and soluble leptin receptor is enhanced in maternal serum with advancing gestation in the baboon.  [First published electronically: 21 July 2004]  Biology of Reproduction 71:1746-1752, 2004

Castracane VD, Hendrickx AG, Henson MC:  Serum leptin in nonpregnant and pregnant women and in old and new world nonhuman primates.  Experimental Biology and Medicine 230:251-254, 2005

Davison BB, Kaack MB, Rogers LB, Rasmussen KK, Rasmussen T, Henson EW, Montenegro S, Henson MC, Mzayek F, Krogstad DJ:  Alterations in the profile of blood cell types during malaria in previously unexposed primagravid monkeys. [First published electronically: 28 April 2005] Journal of Infectious Diseases 191:1940-1952, 2005

Rogers LB, Kaack MB, Henson MC, Rasmussen T, Veazey RS, Krogstad DJ, Davison BB:  Hematologic and lymphocyte immunophenotypic reference values for rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) umbilical cord blood:  gravidity may play a role in study design.  Journal of Medical Primatology 34:147-153, 2005

Henson MC, Castracane VD:  Leptin in pregnancy:  an update.  [First published electronically: 02 November 2005]   Biology of Reproduction 74: 218-229, 2006

Chedrese PJ, Piasek M, Henson MC:  Cadmium as an endocrine disruptor in the reproductive system.  Immunology, Endocrine and Metabolic Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, Peter Leung [Ed.] 6: 27-35, 2006

 Davison BB, Kaack MB, Rogers LB, Rasmussen KK, Rasmussen TA, Henson EW, Henson MC, Parekh FK, Krogstad DJ:  The role of soluble tumor necrosis factor types I and II and tumor necrosis factor-a in malaria during pregnancy.  Journal of Infectious Diseases 194: 123-132, 2006

Castracane VD, Henson MC:  The obese (ob/ob) mouse and the discovery of leptin.  In:  Leptin, Castracane VD, Henson MC [Eds], Endocrine Updates Series, Springer Science & Business Media, Inc., New York, (In Press), 2006

Henson MC, Castracane VD:  Roles and regulation of leptin in reproduction.  In:  Leptin, Castracane VD, Henson MC [Eds.], Endocrine Updates Series, Springer Science & Business Media, Inc., New York, (In Press), 2006

Piasek M, Blanusa M, Kostial K, Henson MC:  Assessment of steroid disruption and metal concentrations in human placentas:  effect of cigarette smoking.  In:  Focus on Smoking and Health Research, F. Columbus [Ed.], Nova Science Publishers, Inc. (In Press), 2006