title: High activity of fatty acid oxidation enzymes in human placenta: implications for fetal-maternal disease.
abstract: As the human fetus and placenta are considered to be primarily dependent on glucose oxidation for energy metabolism, the cause of the remarkable association between severe maternal pregnancy complications and the carriage of a fetus with an inborn error of mitochondrial long-chain fatty acid oxidation (FAO) has remained obscure. We analysed human term placenta and chorionic villus samples for the activities of a variety of enzymes involved in FAO, and compared the results with those obtained in human liver. All enzymes were found to be expressed, with a very high activity of two enzymes involved in the metabolism of long-chain fatty acids (CPT2 and VLCAD), whereas the activity of medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) was found to be low, when compared to liver. These results suggest that fatty acid oxidation may play an important role in energy generation in human placenta, and that a deficiency in the placental oxidation of long-chain FAO may result in placental dysfunction, thus causing gestational complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Oey
authors.forename: M E J
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: den Boer
authors.forename: J P N
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ruiter
authors.forename: R J A
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wanders
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duran
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Waterham
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boer
authors.forename: J A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van der Post
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Wijburg
mesh_terms: D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002824:Chorionic Villi / Q000201:enzymology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010920:Placenta / Q000201:enzymology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase