[Pentose phosphate pathway and nucleic acid synthesis in human funicular tissue. In vitro studies]

Umbilical cord slices were incubated with either 1- or 6-14C-glucose, the radioactivities of which were measured in CO2 evolved. The ratio, 1 CO2/6 CO2 was low, being comprised between 1 and 2. Furthermore, this incubation of cord slices with tritiated uridine or thymidine resulted in very low incorporations, especially for the latter. Therefore, both the pentose phosphate pathway and the synthesis of nucleic acid have a low activity in the cord tissue: these might be signs of senescence in this otherwise fetal organ.