Abstract
Infants of diabetic mothers, who have increased circulating levels of insulin, are prone to an increased incidence of RDS. In order to evaluate the relationship between hyperinsulinism and lung maturation we have examined the influence of insulin on the morphologic development of fetal rat lung in organ culture. Ex-plants of 19 day gestation fetal lung were cultured in F12 medium, to which 1.0 u/ml insulin had been added, for 24 hours. Explants grown in F12 medium alone served as controls. After 24 hours the control cultures demonstrated evidence of continued maturation as evidenced by: larger alveolar spaces, less interstitial mesenchyme, decreased glycogen content, and increased numbers of lamellar bodies. Explants cultuted in medium containing insulin had the following features: very tall alveolar lining cells which were filled with glycogen and extended into the alveolar spaces, frequently obliterating them, more interstitial tissue and markedly fewer lamellar bodies than in the control cultures. The control cultures had 8.3±2.1 lamellar bodies per 10 alveolar lining cells, whereas the insulin treated cultures had 1.1±0.4 lamellar bodies per 10 lining cells.
These observations indicate that insulin delays the appearance of lamellar bodies and increases the glycogen content of the alveolar lining cells in this culture system. Insulin may act by stimulating glycogen synthesis from glucose thereby diverting substrate away from phospholipid synthesis. Supported by USPHS grant no. HL 19752.
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Gross, I., Walker Smith, G. & Warshaw, J. INSULIN DELAYS THE MORPHOLOGIC MATURATION OF FETAL RAT LUNG IN VITRO. Pediatr Res 11, 515 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-00871
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-00871