Summary
The lungs of fetuses of streptozotocin-diabetic rats were examined for their ability to incorporate U-14C-glucose into phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl glycerol, phosphatidyl inositol and lysophosphatidyl choline. In the lungs of control rats an increased biosynthesis of phosphatidyl glycerol in late pregnancy suggested a close association between the production of this phospholipid and the terminal maturation of the fetal lung. In the offspring of diabetic rats the incorporation of 14C-glucose into phosphatidyl choline, lysophosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl glycerol was markedly decreased compared with the control rats on gestational day 20, whereas no difference was seen at day 22. Insulin treatment of the pregnant rats restored the biosynthesis of phosphatidyl choline and lysophosphatidyl choline towards normal on gestational day 20, while the ratio of phosphatidyl glycerol to phosphatidyl inositol incorporation of 14C-glucose was decreased, suggesting that the biosynthesis of phosphatidyl glycerol is more sensitive than that of phosphatidyl choline and lysophosphatidyl choline to the metabolic disturbances inherent in maternal diabetes. The delayed fetal pulmonary maturation occurred without fetal hyperinsulinism which suggests that this latter feature may not be of crucial significance in the aetiology of the respiratory distress syndrome.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gellis SS, Hsia DYY (1959) The infant of the diabetic mother. Am J Dis Child 97: 1–41
Usher RH, Allen AC, McLean FH (1971) Risk of respiratory distress syndrome related to gestational age, route of delivery and maternal diabetes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 111: 826–832
Robert MF, Neff RK, Hubbell JP, Taeusch HW, Avery ME (1976) Association between maternal diabetes and the respiratory-distress syndrome in the newborn. N Engl J Med 294: 357–360
Cunningham MD, Desai NS, Thompson SA, Green JM (1978) Amniotic fluid phosphatidylglycerol in diabetic pregnancies. Am J Obstet Gynecol 131: 719–724
Kulovich MV, Gluck L (1979) The lung profile. II. Complicated pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 135: 64–70
Hallman M, Teramo K (1979) Amniotic fluid phospholipid profile as a predictor of fetal maturity in diabetic pregnancies. Obstet Gynecol 54: 703–707
Eriksson U, Andersson A, Efendić S, Elde R, Hellerström, C (1980) Diabetes in pregnancy: effects on the foetal and newborn rat with particular regard to body weight, serum insulin concentration and pancreatic contents of insulin, glucagon and somatostatin. Acta Endocrinol 94: 354–364
Tydén O, Berne C, Eriksson U (1980) Lung maturation in fetuses of diabetic rats. Pediatr Res 14: 1192–1195
Hanks JH, Wallace RE (1949) Regulation of oxygen and temperature in the preservation of tissues by refrigeration. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 71: 196–200
Gey GO, Gey MK (1936) The maintenance of normal cells and tumor cells in continuous culture. Am J Cancer 27: 45–49
Folch J, Lees M, Sloane-Stanley GH (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipids from animal tissue. J Biol Chem 226: 497–509
Hinegardner RT (1971) An improved fluorometric assay for DNA. Anal Biochem 39: 197–201
Kissane JM, Robins E (1958) The fluorometric measurement of deoxyribonucleic acid in animal tissues with special reference to the central nervous system. J Biol Chem 233: 184–188
Kulovich MV, Hallman MB, Gluck L (1979) The lung profile. I. Normal pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 135: 57–63
Boberg J (1966) Separation of labelled plasma and tissue lipids by thin-layer chromatography. Clin Chim Acta 14: 325–334
Ostle B (1963) Statistics in research, 2nd ed. Ames, The Iowa State University Press
Maniscalco WM, Wilson CM, Gross I, Gobran L, Rooney SA, Warshaw JB (1978) Development of glycogen and phospholipid metabolism in fetal and newborn rat lung. Biochim Biophys Acta 530: 333–346
Hallman M, Kulovich MV, Kirkpatrick E, Sugarman RG, Gluck L (1976) Phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylglycerol in amniotic fluid: indices of lung maturity. Am J Obstet Gynecol 125: 613–617
Hallman M, Teramo K, Kankaanpää K, Kulovich MV, Gluck L (1980) Prevention of respiratory distress syndrome: current view of fetal lung maturity studies. Ann Clin Res 12: 36–44
Hallman M, Epstein BL (1980) Role of myo-inositol in the synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol in the lung. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 92: 1151–1159
Hallman M, Raivio KI (1975) Formation of disaturated lecithin through the lysolecithin pathway in the lung of the developing rabbit. Biol Neonate 27: 329–338
Bose CL, Manne DN, Dercole I, Lawson EG (1980) Functional and biochemical alterations in lungs of fetuses of diabetic rabbits. Pediatr Res 12: 639 (Abstract)
Rhoades RA, Filler DA, Vannata B (1979) Influence of maternal diabetes on lipid metabolism in neonatal rat lung. Biochim Biophys Acta 572: 132–138
Smith BT, Giroud CJP, Robert M, Avery ME (1975) Insulin antagonism of cortisol action on lecithin synthesis by cultured fetal lung cells. J. Pediatr 87: 953–955
Neufeld ND, Sevanian A, Barrett CT, Kaplan SA (1979) Inhibition of surfactant production by insulin in fetal rabbit lung slices. Pediatr Res 13: 752–754
Gross I, Smith GJW, Wilson CM, Maniscalco WM, Ingleson LD, Brehier A, Rooney SA (1980) The influence of hormones on the biochemical development of fetal rat lung in organ culture. II. Insulin. Pediatr Res 14: 834–838
Eriksson U, Hellerström C, Andersson A (1981) Diabetes in pregnancy: effects on the maturation of (pro)insulin biosynthesis in foetal and neonatal rat islets. Diabéte Metab 7: 243–249
Eriksson U, Swenne I (1982) Diabetes in pregnancy: growth of the fetal pancreatic B cells in the rat. Biol Neonate 42: 239–248
Swenne I, Eriksson U (1982) Diabetes in pregnancy: Islet cell proliferation in the fetal rat pancreas. Diabetologia 23: 525–528
Eriksson U (1981) Diabetes in pregnancy: a rat model for the study of fetal complications. Upsala J Med Sci 86: 207–212
Kervran A, Guillaume M, Jost A (1978) The endocrine pancreas of the fetus from diabetic pregnant rat. Diabetologia 15: 387–393
Sosenko IR, Kitzmiller JL, Loo SW, Blix P, Rubenstein AH, Gabbay KH (1979) The infant of the diabetic mother. Correlation of increased cord C-peptide levels with macrosomia and hypoglycemia. N Engl J Med 301: 859–862
Nelson GH, McPherson J, Perling L, Ciechan R (1980) The effect of maternal dietary fat on fetal pulmonary maturation in rats. Am J Obstet Gynecol 138: 466–467
Guleff PS, Beck RR (1981) Maternal and fetal adrenocortical function in the diabetic rabbit. Am J Physiol 240: E217-E225
Boutwell WC, Goldman AS (1979) Depressed biochemical lung maturation and steroid uptake in an animal model of infant of diabetic mother. Pediatr Res 13: 355 (Abstract)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Eriksson, U.J., Tydén, O. & Berne, C. Development of phosphatidyl glycerol biosynthesis in the lungs of fetuses of diabetic rats. Diabetologia 24, 202–206 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250162
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250162