Changes of glycogen in subcutaneous adipose tissue and energy metabolism in adaptation period of newborns of normal and diabetic mothers.

The authors followed oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide release and glycogen content in subcutaneous adipose tissue in 220 newborns of variable birthweights of normal and diabetic mothers. The average oxygen consumption of eutrophic newborn of healthy and diabetic mothers was 6.65 +/- 015 ml/kg.min and 5.11 +/- 0.21 ml/kg.min, respectively. The lower consumption of oxygen with concomitant higher RQ points to preferential utilization of glycides due to higher depots. The mean glycogen content in subcutaneous adipose tissue of diabetic newborns amounted to 1.001 +/- 0.117 mg/g wet weight, i.e. significantly higher as compared to newborns of healthy mothers of 0.479 +/- 0.031 mg/g wet weight. The newborns of mothers with gestational diabetes showed lower glycogen depots at the birth period than newborns of manifest diabetes mothers, though persisting during the first week of life. Except for these newborns the glycogen content decreased with age, nadir was reached between 24-48 h of life, which suggests rapid exhaustion of glycogen deposits from the adipose tissue. The correlation of total glycogen content with magnitudes of lipid reserves underlines the necessity of early nutritional regime in newborns, chiefly hypotrophic ones.