Abstract
ABSTRACT: Our study in pregnant guinea pigs was de-signed to determine whether the modest fractional contri-bution of glucose to the late-pregnant uterine caloric uptakewas due to inadequate uterine glucose supply or to dimin-ished uterine glucose demand. To this end, uterine uptakeof glucose, O2, and lactate was measured in 27 late-preg-nant guinea pigs with a wide range of litter sizes. A groupof 11 mid-pregnant guinea pigs served as a reference. Thefractional uterine uptake of glucose in mid- and late-preg-nancy was 90 and 45%, respectively, confirming the indi-rect data calculated from different studies. In late preg-nancy, uteroplacental blood flow (microspheres, –40%) aswell as arterial glucose concentration (–30%) had de-creased relative to mid-gestation, giving rise to a 60%lower wt-specific uterine glucose supply and a 21% lowerwt-specific uterine glucose uptake. Inasmuch as fetal andplacental glycogen stores become rapidly depleted afterthe 50th day of pregnancy, the lower uterine glucose uptakein late pregnancy appears to reflect inadequate uterineglucose supply rather than diminished fetal glucose de-mands. In late pregnancy, uterine caloric demand per kg isabout 60% more than in mid-gestation, most likely asso-ciated with accelerated fetal fat accretion. Inasmuch as thelatter appears to be mostly fueled by nonglucose fat pre-cursors, it could explain why the glucose fraction of theuterine caloric uptake in late pregnancy has decreased by50% instead of 21% as compared to mid-gestation. Thereduction in arterial glucose concentration in late preg-nancy was independent of litter size suggesting this phe-nomenon is to be a maturational adaptation rather than asign of inadequate maternal glucose production.
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Peeters, L., Verkeste, C., Wallenburg, H. et al. Role of Maternal Glucose as a Metabolic Substrate for the Guinea Pig Conceptus. Pediatr Res 25, 641–644 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198906000-00017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198906000-00017
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