Levels of Unesterified and Esterified Fatty Acids in Umbilical Blood of Hypoxic Fetuses

Placental transfer of essential fatty acids in humans: venous-arterial difference for docosahexaenoic acid in fetal umbilical erythrocytes.

“…While fetal uptake of plasmafree fatty acids, as evidenced by significant venous-arterial differences, has been documented (12,(15)(16)(17)(18), no studies have addressed the possibility of such differences in fetal erythrocytes. Surprisingly, we discovered a significant venous-arterial concentration difference for one important fatty acid in fetal cord erythrocytes.…”

“…Concentration measurements, on the other hand, are unobscured by the levels of other fatty acids and express the absolute quantity of the individual fatty acids. Most reports of cord venous-arterial differences have found significant differences in the plasma-free fatty acid concentration (12,(15)(16)(17)(18). It is estimated that these small but significant venous-arterial differences could provide a substantial portion of the fatty acids required by the fetus for storage and structure (11).…”

“…§ The "essentiality" of n -6 and n -3 fatty acids lies not only in the fact that their shorter chain precursors, linoleic [18:2(n -6); 18:2(9,12)] and linolenic [18:3(n -3); 18:3 (9,12,15)] acids, cannot be synthesized de novo by vertebrate animals but also is a result of their distinct and different functional activities (4). Studies in a range of animals, from insects to birds and mammals, have contributed to our understanding of the specific deficits attributed to n -3 and n -6 fatty acid deprivation.…”

Glycerol Levels in the Maternal and Umbilical Cord Blood under Various Conditions

“…Some time ago we found that in the umbilical artery of hypoxic foetuses the NEFA level is also increased [Sabata et al, 1968], McE lroy and Spitzer [1961a and b] demonstrated that in the course of acidosis and hypoxia in the dogs a mobilization of NEFA took place. Finally, our present results show a clear increase of glycerol level in the umbilical cord of hypoxic foetuses.…”

“…In our previous publications we found that the level of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) is increased in the umbilical blood of foetuses finding themselves in some abnormal situation, for example, in hypoxic foetuses [Sabata et al, 1968] and small-for-date foetuses [Sabata et al, 1967]. The NEFA level was higher even in the cases where infusion of glucose or glucose with insulin [Sabata et al, 1965] was given to the mother in the course of delivery.…”