Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Birth weight is a marker and predictor of metabolic diseases in adult life. Fetal growth depends on the availability of nutrients, in turn cross the placental barrier by means of special cells called syncytiotrophoblasts, which express specific transporters for each type of nutrient. Glucose, the main energetic substrate for fetal development, is transported via facilitated diffusion, through glucose transporter proteins (GLUTs). Several investigations have focused on the study of GLUT-1 and GLUT-3 transporters in placental samples from women with complications during pregnancy. Therefore, our study objective was to determine the role of glucose transporters in palcental tissue of clinically healthy women, as well as its relationship with alterations in birth weight.

Methods: Placental samples from clinically healthy women were included in the study, SGA (n=20), AGA (n=20) and SGA (n=20). Placental homogenates were prepared for the evaluation of the expression of glucose transporters (GLUT-1 and GLUT-3) in the 3 study groups by Western Blot. Anti-GLUT1 and anti-GLUT-3 antibodies were used to detect GLUT1 and GLUT-3 (1 : 1500 and 1 : 500 respectively) and were incubated by 20 h. As secondary antibodies were used Anti-Rabbit (1 : 125 000) and anti-Mouse (1 : 5000) antibodies to detect anti-GLUT1 and anti-GLUT-3 respectively, with an incubation time of 2 h. Glucose transporters expression was normalized with the expression of the α Tubulin protein.

Results: Expression of GLUT-1 transporter in placentas of LGA group was 50% higher in comparison to SGA group (P=0.018). There were no significant differences in expression between LGA groups vs AGA (P=0.087) and SGA vs. AGA (P=0.492).

Conclusion: In placentas of infants small and large for gestational age (SGA and LGA) who do not have an adequate weight at birth, there is a differential expression of GLUT-1 transporter. This suggests that this transporter may be important in determining birth weight and, consequently, in the risk of diseases of adult life.