Search

The turnover rates of plasma lactate, normalized for O2 consumption rate, are higher in the fetus than in the adult. This occurs despite very low rates of fetal gluconeogenesis which preclude the recycling of lactate carbon into glucose. In an effort to establish the main routes of disposal of fetal plasma lactate, 12 midgestation ovine fetuses (age 74 +/- 1 days) were infused intravenously at constant rate with L-[U-14C]lactate for a 4-hour period. At the end of the infusion, the amounts of 14C retained by the fetus and by the placenta, and the distribution of the retained 14C in free and protein-bound amino acids and in lipids were measured. Of the total 14C infused, 17.0 +/- 1.4% was recovered in the placenta, 4.0 +/- 0.3% in the fetal liver, and 15.0 +/- 0.8% in the extrahepatic fetal tissues. Of the retained radioactive carbon, 45-57% was recovered in the free and protein-bound amino acid fractions and 11-17% in the lipid fractions. Approximately 90% of the 14C in the free amino acid fractions was present as glutamate/glutamine, serine, glycine, and alanine carbon. In conjunction with data on fetal CO2 production from lactate carbon, these results demonstrate that the main routes of fetal lactate disposal are oxidation and synthesis of nonessential amino acids and lipids.

The accumulation of hydrogen ions in fetal blood when fetal oxygenation is acutely decreased suggests metabolic instability. However, in 6 chronically prepared fetal sheep whose arterial O2 content and pO2 were abruptly reduced and maintained at about 1.7 mM and 12.6 Torr, respectively, we observed a significant decrease in fetal arterial lactate concentrations and an increase in pH to normal values after 24 h of continuous hypoxia compared with values observed after 5 h. This demonstrates that fetal pH measurements may not detect prolonged intrauterine hypoxia.

In order to determine whether insulin stimulates glucose uptake by the hindlimb tissue of the fetal lamb, we performed 7 paired, euglycemic glucose 'clamp' experiments in 7 chronically prepared fetal sheep. Four sample sets for oxygen content, glucose and lactate concentration were drawn from the external iliac artery and vein during a control period and repeated during a euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic 'clamp' period. Insulin was infused at constant rate (4 mU/min/kg) and the fetal arterial glucose concentration was maintained by variable glucose infusion. The glucose/oxygen quotient increased significantly: 1.05 +/- 0.07 (control) versus 2.02 +/- 0.16 (hyperinsulinemia). There was no change in lactate/oxygen quotient. The data demonstrate that with maximal insulin stimulation, fetal hindlimb tissues increase glucose uptake by 92% with no large change in lactate production, indicating a net accumulation of glucose carbon under these experimental conditions.

To define the O2 consumption rate (VO2) versus body mass relation during fetal growth, we compared fetal sheep VO2 at mid and late gestation. VO2 per kg wet weight was 37% higher at mid gestation. However, VO2 per kg dry weight was 2.5 times higher, and associated with a high viscera/body weight ratio. Fetal VO2 tends to grow proportionally to body mass because marked decreases in the relative growth of visceral organs and in the VO2/dry weight ratio are accompanied by a decrease in body water.