FETAL CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM FOLLOWING ADRENALECTOMY, INSULIN AND GLUCOSE EXPERIMENTS ON THE MOTHER

Abstract

Materno-fetal carbohydrate metabolism in the rat was studied by determining the glycogen , concns. in the maternal and fetal livers, the placenta and fetal muscle of normal animals, and after subjection of the mother to various exptl. procedures. The expts. involved over 600 fetuses comprising 89 litters. Adrenalectomy of the mother produced significant depletions in the glycogen content of the maternal and fetal livers (70 and 43%, respectively) as compared to the values obtained for 12-hr.-fasted controls. Injections of cortico-adrenal extract in pregnant rats failed to evoke alterations in the carbohydrate levels studied. Insulin injection in the mother produced decreases in maternal and fetal glycogen values similar to those seen after adrenalectomy. Injections of glucose into the mother resulted in increased glycogen concn. in both the maternal and fetal liver. Placental and fetal muscle glycogen levels remained relatively unaffected by the exptl. procedures employed.