Enhanced circulating retinol and nonesterified fatty acids in pregnancies complicated with intrauterine growth restriction
Résumé
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) increases the incidence of perinatal complications, and although several placental transport functions have been shown to be altered in pregnancies complicated by IUGR, the mechanism behind it is not well understood. This study investigated factors in maternal and cord blood plasma from normal and IUGR complicated pregnancies associated with newborns' body weight. At the time of caesarean section, twenty-four women with IUGR pregnancies were compared to a group of thirty normal controls with appropriate gestation age (AGA) fetuses that were studied at caesarean, which took place 5 weeks earlier than IUGRs and also to a group of twenty-five nondelivered gestational age-matched control pregnant women (AGA-35 wks). Maternal plasma retinol, γ- and α-tocopherol, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), palmitic-, palmitoleic-, γ-linolenic- and arachidonic-acid were higher in women with IUGR pregnancies than in AGA-35 wks controls, whereas stearic- and α-linolenic-acid were lower. Smaller differences were found when comparing these variables for IUGR and AGA women. However, umbilical vein plasma γ-tocopherol, cholesterol, triacylglycerols and NEFA were higher in the IUGR group than in AGA, whereas arachidonic acid was lower. Maternal plasma retinol and NEFA were the only variables negatively correlated with birth weight when multiple linear regressions were analyzed. In conclusion, the increased circulating retinol and NEFA in maternal plasma are negatively associated with birth and placental weights, which may reflect an impaired placental transfer in IUGR pregnancies. Since retinoids have been involved in the control of gene transcription, it is proposed that a decreased placental transfer of retinol could underlie the metabolic dysfunction of IUGR pregnancies.
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