The effect of pancreatectomy on the uptake of metabolites by the sheep fetus.

The effects of fetal pancreatectomy on the uptake of oxygen, glucose and lactate by the fetus, uterus and uteroplacental tissues were investigated in chronically catheterized sheep during the last third of gestation. Pancreatectomy reduced the uptake of glucose by the fetus but had little apparent effect on glucose uptake by the uterus or uteroplacental tissues. The mean umbilical uptake of glucose by the pancreatectomized fetuses was 10.4 +/- 1.1 mumol/kg . min (n = 4) which was significantly less than the value observed in the intact fetuses (24.5 +/- 2.7 mumol/kg . min, n = 4, P less than 0.01). When all the data from the pancreatectomized and intact fetuses were combined, there was a significant positive correlation between the plasma insulin concentration in utero and the umbilical uptake of glucose (r = 0.95, n = 14, P less than 0.01). The glucose/oxygen quotient in the pancreatectomized fetuses (0.32 +/- 0.02, n = 9) was significantly less than the value observed in the intact fetuses (0.59 +/- 0.04, n = 6, P less than 0.01). There was also a significant positive correlation between the glucose/oxygen quotient and the plasma concentration of insulin in the fetus (r = 0.73, n = 59, P less than 0.01). Pancreatectomy had no significant effect on the fetal lactate/oxygen quotient or on the uptake of oxygen or lactate by any of the tissues. These observations demonstrate that the endogenous concentration of insulin is a physiological regulator of glucose uptake by the fetal tissues.