[Lactate dehydrogenase and its isoenzymes in human umbilical cord tissue]

Study on umbilical cord tissue, completely bloodless, for determination of lactate deshydrogenase activity and its distribution among the five iso-enzymes. Comparison with placenta, amniotic fluid, serums of blood of cord and of mother. Cord tissue is very active (about 360 muKatals, in average) and it is a similar result in placenta (as it is possibly bloodless). Blood serum of cord is more active than amniotic fluid, which is more active than maternal serum, but they are 80 to 200 times less active than cord tissue. After electrophoresis, a very large predominance of the slow iso-enzymes L.D.H. 4--5 is found in cord tissue (72%), amniotic fluid (67%) and placenta (56%), whereas the fast iso-enzymes L.D.H. 1--2 are predominant in the serums of cord blood and of mother. These data indicate an intense metabolic activity in the cord tissue, which has also an high level of lactate, and this seems related to the foetal metabolism for anaerobic glycolysis in oxygen weakly provided tissues.