Plasma and erythrocyte amino acids in mother and fetus.
Plasma (P) and whole blood (WB) amino acid concentrations were measured in arterial and venous blood of 9 mothers and their fetuses at elective cesarean section and compared to values obtained in 5 normal nonpregnant women. Erythrocyte (E) amino acid concentrations were calculated from P and WB concentrations. E/P ratios were significantly greater than 1.0 in all groups studied. Alanine, glycine, and serine presented E/P ratios significantly higher in pregnant women than in control nonpregnant women. Fetuses presented significantly lower E/P ratios for lysine than pregnant and nonpregnant women. Uterine arteriovenous amino acid differences were not significantly different from zero in both plasma and erythrocytes. Umbilical venous-arterial differences were significantly positive for most essential amino acids in plasma, whereas they were not significantly different from zero in erythrocytes. This finding suggests that erythrocytes do not play a major role in the transfer of amino acids from the placenta to the fetus.
Cetin
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I
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver.
Hirst
K
K
Corbetta
C
C
Sereni
L P
LP
Marconi
A M
AM
Zerbe
G O
GO
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000097:blood*; D001158:Arteries; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D010949:Plasma / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014599:Uterus / Q000098:blood supply; D014680:Veins
D000596:Amino Acids