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Endocrine Regulation of Nutrient Flux in the Lactating Woman

Do the Mechanisms Differ from Pregnancy?

  • Chapter
Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 352))

Abstract

The nutritional demands of the fetus and breast-fed newborn require that substantial quantities of nutrients be diverted from maternal use. In addition fat stores are usually augmented during pregnancy and diminished during lactation. In this paper we consider hormonal mechanisms responsible for these processes, focussing on the regulation of glucose fluxes. Before we begin this discussion, it is well to consider that the mechanisms by which the placenta delivers nutrients to the fetus are very different from those utilized by the lactating mammary gland. The placenta serves mainly to transport nutrients from the maternal blood to the fetal blood. There is limited chemical modification of nutrients as they cross the placenta. Further, the rate of transfer depends, for many nutrients as well as respiratory gases, on the concentration gradient across the placenta. This is especially true for glucose which is passively transferred by facilitated diffusion (Hay et al., 1990; Takata et al, 1992). Although transplacental transfer of immunoglobulins occurs in some species, large molecules such as proteins do not cross the placenta in nutritionally relevant amounts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Physiology and Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado, 80262, USA

    Margaret C. Neville, Clare Casey & William W. Hay Jr.

Authors
  1. Margaret C. Neville
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  2. Clare Casey
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  3. William W. Hay Jr.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA

    Lindsay Allen  & Bo Lönnerdal  & 

  2. University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Janet King

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Neville, M.C., Casey, C., Hay, W.W. (1994). Endocrine Regulation of Nutrient Flux in the Lactating Woman. In: Allen, L., King, J., Lönnerdal, B. (eds) Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 352. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2575-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2575-6_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-2577-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2575-6

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