Endocrine Abstracts

The late gestation increase in glucocorticoid action promotes the structural and functional maturation of the fetal heart. Metabolic maturation of cardiomyocytes involves a switch from glucose utilization as a fuel source to fatty acid (FA) oxidation. In fetal cardiomyocytes, glucocorticoids induce expression of PGC1a (a master regulator of mitochondrial capacity), lipin1 and KLF15 (genes involved in FA oxidation). We hypothesized that glucocorticoids promote the metabolic swi...