Glycogen content in subcutaneous adipose tissue of newborns of different birth weights in the first week of life.

The glycogen content of the subcutaneous adipose tissue was examined in 164 newborns of different birth weights. It amounted to 0.48 +/- 0.05 mg glycogen/g wet weight on average and did not depend on the weight of the newborn, week of gestation in the 38th to 41st week of pregnancy and duration of labor. In small-for-date newborns the glycogen content per gram wet weight was equal to the eutrophic and large-for-date newborns. The amount of fat tissue and also the total glycogen content in small-for-date newborns, however, is substantially lower. The glycogen content decreases in the first hours of life. It reaches the lowest values at 24-48 h of life. This bears witness to the quick depletion of glycogen reserves of the subcutaneous adipose tissue. The different amounts of carbohydrate and fat reserves stress the importance of early nutrition in some groups of newborns, especially of low-birth-weight newborns.