The placenta in intrauterine fetal deprivation. II. Biochemical profile of placentas from deliveries associated with fetal distress.

The activity of enzymes with a regulatory function in the pathways of glycolysis, glyconeogenesis and NADP-generation, and the tissue content of DNA, protein, glycogen, triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL), cholesterol and dry matter were investigated in placentas from deliveries accompanied by fetal distress as a result of umbilical cord compression or placental dysfunction in toxemic pregnancies. In placentas from cases of fetal distress due to umbilical cord compression, there was increased activity of pyruvate kinase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and NADP-malate dehydrogenase, and decreased activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. The activity of aspartate aminotransferase was unchanged, and that of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was slightly elevated. The tissue content of dry matter, DNA, TG and PL was increased, whereas the protein, cholesterol and glycogen concentrations remained unaltered. In placentas from deliveries accompanied by fetal distress due to placental dysfunction, pyruvate kinase, when calculated per mg protein, was the only enzyme with decreased activity. TG, PL, glycogen and dry matter content were increased, DNA concentration was decreased, and protein and cholesterol remained unchanged. It is suggested that the divergent placental metabolic patterns found in the two fetal distress groups are related to the different levels of disturbed oxygen passage along the uterus-placenta-fetus axis.