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Lipid Metabolism in the Fetal-Placental Unit

  • Chapter
Principles of Perinatal-Neonatal Metabolism

Abstract

In utero the fetus is constantly infused with substrate from the placenta. At birth this transfer is halted abruptly, and the infant must utilize endogenous substrates for glucose homeostasis. To prepare for this change from exogenous to endogenous substrate, late in gestation the fetus increases fuel storage in the form of glycogen and lipid. During the immediate postnatal period, glycogen is used to maintain glucose homeostasis, and after the depletion of glycogen, gluconeo-genesis is activated. Equally important, the initiation of oxidation of substrate other than glucose is necessary to decrease the neonate’s dependence on glucose as the primary energy source. The activation of lipoly-sis and the initiation of fatty acid and ketone body oxidation provide the neonate with such an alternative energy source. This changing pattern of substrate oxidation is reflected by a fall in the respiratory quotient from 1.0 to 0.7 during the first 3 days of life when fatty acids become the preferred substrate in a number of tissues with high energy demands.1,2

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  1. Robert E. Kimura
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Brown University Program in Medicine, Providence, RI, 02905, USA

    Richard M. Cowett MD (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Providence, RI, 02905, USA

    Richard M. Cowett MD (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

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Kimura, R.E. (1991). Lipid Metabolism in the Fetal-Placental Unit. In: Cowett, R.M. (eds) Principles of Perinatal-Neonatal Metabolism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0400-5_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0400-5_16

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