The effects of maternal alloxan diabetes on body composition, liver enzymes and metabolism and serum metabolites and hormones of fetal pigs.

Pregnant Yorkshire gilts were allotted to three treatment groups during the third trimester of gestation. One group was injected with alloxan at 70 days of gestation; the second group was injected daily with protamine zinc insulin beginning at 80 days, and the third group received saline injections serving as controls. At 112 days of gestation, the fetuses were delivered alive by hysterectomy, and utilized for analyses. Body composition data indicated a significant increase in percent fat in the diabetic progeny. Liver lipogenic enzyme profiles did not indicate a significant change in activity to account for the increased carcass lipid. In fact, liver lipogenesis from labelled pyruvate was depressed in livers of diabetic progeny. Insulin levels were low in all the groups suggesting that hyperglycemia observed in the progeny of diabetic gilts had little insulin stimulatory action on the fetal pancreatic B-cells. Fructose levels were significantly increased in the progeny of diabetic gilts. Insulin injections during pregnancy did not influence fetal body weight or body compositions. The mechanisms(s) of increased lipid deposition in infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) may involve de novo fatty acid synthesis by adipose cell or direct incorporation of maternal fatty acids into fetal adipose cells.