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Hormonal and Metabolic Changes Induced by Elevated Plasma Free Fatty Acids in Term Pregnancy. I. Effect on Maternal Blood Glucose, Insulin and Human Placental Lactogen Circulating Levels

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Division of Diabetes, Institute of Medicine, University of Liege Belgium

Reprint requests should be addressed to: Ulysse Gaspard, M.D., Service de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique, Université de Liège, 81, boulevard de la Constitution, B. 4000 Liege—Belgium.

The influence of plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentration on the secretion of human placental lactogen (hPL) was investigated in 16 normal young women during the last month of gestation, in order to determine whether hPL secretion is influenced in the same way as human growth hormone (hGH) during plasma FFA elevation.

Maternal blood glucose (BG), plasma triglycerides (TG), FFA, immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and hPL levels were measured during and after a lipid emulsion infusion for 75 min (10 cases). The intravenous injection of 5,000 U of heparin at the 15th min of the lipid infusion was followed by a decrease in plasma triglyceride levels and by an accompanying rise in plasma FFA (from 468 ± 52 to 2,478 ± 310 µeq/liter). In control experiments lipid infusion alone (3 cases) resulted in a moderate increase in FFA (718 ± 157 to 1,046 ± 255 µeq/liter), and separate iv heparin administration (3 cases) elevated the FFA levels from 728 ± 50 to 1,649 ± 153 µeq/liter). No significant change in ei er IRI or hPL levels was discernible in any of the tests performed. A tendency of blood glucose to increase was observed after heparin administration.

It was concluded that a marked and sustained plasma FFA elevation, achieved through intravenous lipid and heparin infusion cannot alter hPL circulating levels in term human pregnancy.