Effects of prenatal treatment with betamethasone, L-carnitine, or betamethasone-L-carnitine combinations on the phosphatidylcholine content and composition of the foetal and maternal rat lung.

Pregnant rats received 0.10 or 0.20 mg/kg body weight betamethasone, or 100 mg/kg body weight L-carnitine, or L-carnitine 100 mg/kg plus betamethasone 0.05 or 0.10 mg/kg body weight, or saline (controls) for three days before delivery of foetuses at day 19 of gestation. Dose-related effects on the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine content and the phosphatidylcholine species composition of foetal and maternal lungs were determined. Betamethasone (0.10 and 0.20 mg/kg) or L-carnitine (100 mg/kg) significantly increased (p < 0.05) the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine content in the foetal lungs, while only small changes were found in relative terms. Combinations of betamethasone (0.05 or 0.10 mg/kg) with L-carnitine (100 mg/kg) also significantly increased the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine content of the foetal lungs above control values (p < 0.01) and above the values achieved with betamethasone alone (p < 0.05). In the maternal lungs a significant increase of the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine content above the control values was only found after treatment with betamethasone-carnitine combinations, whereas compared with the foetal lung the relative increase of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine as a fraction of total phosphatidylcholine was more pronounced after betamethasone treatment. The gas chromatographic method used separates two monoenoic phosphatidylcholine species with 32 carbon atoms in the acyl residues. These two phosphatidylcholine species showed striking differences between adult and foetal lungs. Palmitoleyl palmitoyl phosphatidylcholine predominates in the maternal lung, whereas palmitoyl palmitoleyl phosphatidylcholine is the major monoenoic phosphatidylcholine species with 32 carbon atoms in the foetal lung. These two species were not affected in maternal or foetal lung by betamethasone or L-carnitine treatment. In contrast, after treatment with betamethasone-carnitine combinations, a significant increase of the fraction of palmitoyl palmitoleyl phosphatidylcholine was found in foetal but not in the maternal lung. The results of the present study demonstrate that maternal glucocorticoid and carnitine treatment affects the maternal as well as the foetal lung but with different effects on the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine content and phosphatidylcholine species composition.