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Placental Composition Does Not Respond to Changes in Maternal Dietary Carbohydrate Intake in Rats¹

School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Qué., Canada, H9X 3V9

In this study we investigated whether placental glycogen reserves and protein and DNA content could be manipulated by altering the level of glucose in the maternal diet. Pregnant rat dams were fed isocaloric diets containing graded levels of glucose (0, 12, 24 and 60%), and placentas were analyzed for glycogen, protein and DNA content on gestational days 18.5 to 21.5. Regardless of the level of glucose in the maternal diet, there was a significant increase in placental size with advancing age, which was characterized by protein accretion but not by an increase in cell number or glycogen content. Restriction of glucose in the diets of pregnant dams failed to produce statistically significant reductions in placental protein, DNA and glycogen and did not retard placental growth, even through intrauterine growth retardation was observed. Fetal weight, plasma glucose, and liver and heart glycogen were positively correlated with placental weight and inversely correlated with placental glycogen and DNA concentrations; by contrast, no significant correlations were calculated between maternal and placental variables. Our study indicates that the placenta is not affected by a specific dietary glucose restriction and that changes in placental weight or glycogen content do not account for the growth retardation observed in fetuses of dams fed glucose-restricted diets.

KEY WORDS: • placenta • glycogen • rats • protein • DNA

¹ Supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC 3625).

² L. Lanoue was a recipient of Fonds pour la Formation des Chercheurs et l'Aide à la Recherche (FCAR), a Québec provincial postgraduate scholarship.

³ S. Miniaci received a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Summer Undergraduate Research Scholarship.

⁴ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 28 February 1992. Revision accepted 5 August 1992.