Effect of maternal diabetes on response to hypoxia in the newborn rabbit.
We tested the hypothesis that maternal diabetes is associated with a decreased ability of the newborn to tolerate hypoxia by measuring the time to last gasp of rabbit pups born to diabetic and control does and placed in 100% N2. Rabbits were made diabetic by injection of 100 mg/kg alloxan i.v. The alloxan-treated mothers had significantly elevated blood glucose during pregnancy and at delivery (132 vs. 90 mg/dl, p less than 0.001). Pups were delivered at 30 day's gestation by hysterectomy under local anesthesia. Half of each litter were immediately sacrificed and the remaining pups placed in 100% Ns. The pups from the alloxan-treated mothers showed a higher pre-asphyxial mean blood glucose (97 vs. 73 mg/dl, p less than 0.025) and a lower mean survival time (18.4 vs. 21.1 min, p less than 0.005).
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001835:Body Weight; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000032:analysis; D006003:Glycogen / Q000032:analysis; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000503:physiopathology*
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006003:Glycogen