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Title: Investigation of phospholipid synthesis and the disposition of amino acid and carbohydrate

Book ·
OSTI ID:6479138

The synthesis of pulmonary phospholipids by offspring of diabetic female rats was assessed by means of high performance liquid chromatography combined with automated phosphate analysis. No changes in the pool sizes of the major phospholipids or their precursors were observed. However, offspring of both insulin-treated and untreated diabetic mothers displayed increased pulmonary lyso-phosphatidylcholine. The concentration of glycerylphosphorylcholine, the metabolic product of lyso-phosphatidylcholine, was also increased in these offspring, providing further evidence of a reduced reacylation pathway in the offspring of diabetic mothers. The concentration of phosphatidylglycerol was reduced in the lungs from offspring of diabetic mothers. Preliminary investigation suggested that the mechanism of insulin action on lungs from offspring of diabetic rats may be the diversion of substrate from lipid synthetic pathways into protein synthesis. The utilization of (14C)-labeled amino acids and carbohydrates by normal fetal rat lung, however, revealed no direct insulin effect on protein synthesis. The ability of the fetal lung to convert amino acids into Krebs Cycle intermediates was demonstrated.

OSTI ID:
6479138
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English