Effect of dexamethasone on glycogen deposition in pregnant rats and their fetuses.

Glycogen deposition was determined in pregnant rats and their fetuses twenty four hrs after maternal treatment with dexamethasone in the final days of pregnancy. Dexamethasone increases glycogen accumulation in the fetal liver, heart, adrenal glands and thymus. Simultaneously, it increases the glycogen concentration in maternal liver. In this study, dexamethasone did not change the glycogen level in the fetal kidneys, brain, placenta, lung and maternal adrenal glands. These results show that dexamethasone accelerated glycogen deposition in some fetal tissues. It is possible that dexamethasone activated enzymes of glycogen synthesis or potentiated the action of fetal corticosterone on induction of glycogen accumulation in fetal rat tissues.