Fetal glucose utilization in response to maternal starvation and acute hyperketonemia

The effects of maternal hypoglycemia and/or hyperketonemia on glucose utilization by individual fetal rat tissues have been studied in vivo. To decrease blood glucose and to raise fetal blood ketone body concentrations, 19-day pregnant rats were submitted to 48 or 96 h of starvation. To differentiate between the effects of decreased blood glucose and increased ketone body concentrations, fed pregnant rats were infused for 2 h with DL-beta-hydroxybutyrate. After 96 h of maternal starvation, fetal 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) uptake decreased from 13.6 +/- 0.5 to 8.6 +/- 1.15 micrograms.min-1.g-1. This was mainly due to a decrease in 2DG uptake by fetal hindlimb muscles and heart. By contrast, 2DG uptake in fetal liver and brain was not affected by maternal starvation. Acute hyperketonemia in fed pregnant rats induced a 23% decrease in 2DG uptake by the whole fetus mainly as the result of a lowered 2DG uptake in fetal hindlimb muscles. These data suggest that fetal 2DG uptake does not simply depend on lowered blood glucose level during maternal starvation but that other hormonal, cardiovascular, or metabolic adaptations are implicated. In the rat, most of the fetal tissues including brain are protected against maternal hypoglycemia.