Glucose infusion in the pregnant rabbit and its effect on glycogen content and activity of foetal heart under anoxia

Effects of antenatal dexamethasone and hyperglycemia on cardiovascular adaptation to asphyxia in preterm fetal sheep

Antenatal glucocorticoids improve outcomes among premature infants but are associated with hyperglycemia, which can exacerbate hypoxic-ischemic injury. It is still unclear how antenatal glucocorticoids or hyperglycemia modulate fetal cardiovascular adaptations to severe asphyxia. In this study, preterm fetal sheep received either saline or 12 mg im maternal dexamethasone, followed 4 h later by complete umbilical cord occlusion (UCO) for 25 min. An additional cohort of fetuses received titrated glucose infusions followed 4 h later by UCO to control for the possibility that hyperglycemia contributed to the cardiovascular effects of dexamethasone. Fetuses were studied for 7 days after UCO. Maternal dexamethasone was associated with fetal hyperglycemia (P < 0.001), increased arterial pressure (P < 0.001), and reduced femoral (P < 0.005) and carotid (P < 0.05) vascular conductance before UCO. UCO was associated with bradycardia, femoral vasoconstriction, and transient hypertension. For the first 5 min of UCO, fetal blood pressure in the dexamethasone-asphyxia group was greater than saline-asphyxia (P < 0.001). However, the relative increase in arterial pressure was not different from saline-asphyxia. Fetal heart rate and femoral vascular conductance fell to similar nadirs in both saline and dexamethasone-asphyxia groups. Dexamethasone did not affect the progressive decline in femoral vascular tone or arterial pressure during continuing UCO. By contrast, there were no effects of glucose infusions on the response to UCO. In summary, maternal dexamethasone but not fetal hyperglycemia increased fetal arterial pressure before and for the first 5 min of prolonged UCO but did not augment the cardiovascular adaptations to acute asphyxia.

Oxidative and glycogenolytic cCapacities within the developing chick heart

Cardiac morphogenesis and function are known to depend on both aerobic and anaerobic energy-producing pathways. However, the relative contribution of mitochondrial oxidation and glycogenolysis, as well as the determining factors of oxygen demand in the distinct chambers of the embryonic heart, remains to be investigated. Spontaneously beating hearts isolated from stage 11, 20, and 24HH chick embryos were maintained in vitro under controlled metabolic conditions. O(2) uptake and glycogenolytic rate were determined in atrium, ventricle, and conotruncus in the absence or presence of glucose. Oxidative capacity ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 nmol O(2)/(h.microg protein), did not depend on exogenous glucose, and was the highest in atria at stage 20HH. However, the highest reserves of oxidative capacity, assessed by mitochondrial uncoupling, were found at the youngest stage and in conotruncus, representing 75 to 130% of the control values. At stage 24HH, glycogenolysis in glucose-free medium was 0.22, 0.17, and 0.04 nmol glucose U(h.microg protein) in atrium, ventricle, and conotruncus, respectively. Mechanical loading of the ventricle increased its oxidative capacity by 62% without altering glycogenolysis or lactate production. Blockade of glycolysis by iodoacetate suppressed lactate production but modified neither O(2) nor glycogen consumption in substrate-free medium. These findings indicate that atrium is the cardiac chamber that best utilizes its oxidative and glycogenolytic capacities and that ventricular wall stretch represents an early and major determinant of the O(2) uptake. Moreover, the fact that O(2) and glycogen consumptions were not affected by inhibition of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase provides indirect evidence for an active glycerol-phosphate shuttle in the embryonic cardiomyocytes.

Neonatal tolerance to hypoxia: a comparative-physiological approach

Newborn mammals exhibit a number of physiological reactions which differ from normal adult physiology and are often regarded as signs of immaturity. However, when looked upon from a comparative point of view, it becomes obvious that some of these 'physiological peculiarities' bear striking similarity to adaptation mechanisms known from hypoxia-tolerant animals and may thus contribute to the well-established, yet poorly understood, phenomenon of neonatal hypoxia tolerance. As the mammalian fetus lives at oxygen partial pressures corresponding to 8000 m altitude, the first line of perinatal hypoxia defense consists of long-term adaptations to limited intrauterine oxygen supply: (1) improved O2 transport by fetal acclimatization to high altitude, (2) reduced metabolic rate by hibernation-like deviation from metabolic size allometry, (3) diminished cerebral vulnerability by functional analogies to diving turtle brain, and (4) enhanced metabolic flexibility by optional repartitioning of energy supply from growth to maintenance metabolism. In the case of birth asphyxia, these background mechanisms are complemented by short-term responses to acute oxygen lack: (1) reduction of body temperature as in natural torpor, (2) reduction of heart rate and redistribution of circulation as in diving mammals, (3) reduction of respiration rate typical of 'hypoxic hypometabolism', and (4) reduction of blood pH according to the concept of 'acidotic torpidity'. Although anaerobic metabolism is improved in neonatal mammals by increased glycogen stores, reduced metabolic demands, and sustained wash-out of acid metabolites, neonatal hypoxia tolerance seems to be primarily based on the ability to maintain tissue aerobiosis as long as possible. This is even reflected by isoenzyme patterns which do not consistently favour anaerobic glycolysis and, thus, are reminiscent of the 'lactate paradox' found in high altitude adaptation. Altogether, from a biological point of view, the perinatal period appears as a source of adaptive mechanisms that can be refound, in varying combinations, in many survival strategies. From a clinical point of view, the interplay of long- and short-term mechanisms offers a novel approach to estimation of the newborn's ability to withstand temporary oxygen lack. However, most of these mechanisms are not unambiguous and, above all, not unlimited in their protective effect so that they do not release obstetricians or neonatologists from their obligation to counteract fetal or neonatal hypoxia without delay.

Failure of autoresuscitation in weanling mice: significance of cardiac glycogen and heart rate regulation

"Autoresuscitation" (AR) is the spontaneous recovery from hypoxic apnea by gasping. We examined aspects of heart function in two situations: 1) the maturationally acquired failure of AR that is characteristic of SWR, but not BALB/c, weanling mice and 2) AR failure in BALB/c mice induced by repeated exposures to anoxia. We determined maturational changes in heart and liver glycogen. Unlike liver glycogen levels, heart glycogen levels in SWR mice differed from those in BALB/c mice. They were consistently much lower throughout maturation and reached a nadir during the brief period when SWR weanling mice are vulnerable to AR failure. Also, rate of cardiac glycogen utilization in vulnerable SWR mice was lower than that of same-aged BALB/c mice and was nil during the latter one-half of the gasping stage when heart function is critical for AR success. Therefore, because glycogen utilization reflects cardiac work, heart failure could explain AR failure in SWR weanlings. Additionally, the increase in hypoxic heart rate that occurs with maturation is developmentally delayed in SWR mice, and this may contribute to their AR failure. Cardiac glycogen was not fully depleted in BALB/c mice during repeated anoxic exposures, indicating other reasons for AR failure. We view these findings as a potential model for the age-related peak in incidence of sudden infant death syndrome.

Enhanced utilization of exogenous glucose improves cardiac function in hypoxic rabbit ventricle without increasing total glycolytic flux

The effects of elevated glucose on cardiac function during hypoxia were investigated in isolated arterially perfused rabbit interventricular septa. Rest tension, developed tension, intracellular potential, 42K+ efflux, lactate production, exogenous glucose utilization, and tissue high-energy phosphate levels were measured during a 50-min period of hypoxia with 4, 5, or 50 mM glucose present (isosmotically balanced with sucrose) and during reoxygenation for 60 min with perfusate containing 5 mM glucose/45 mM sucrose. At physiologic (4 or 5 mM) and supraphysiologic glucose (50 mM), lactate production and high-energy phosphate levels during hypoxia were equally well maintained, yet cardiac dysfunction was markedly attenuated by 50 mM glucose. Despite identical rates of total glycolytic flux, exogenous glucose utilization was enhanced by 50 mM glucose so that tissue glycogen levels remained normal during hypoxia, whereas glycogen became depleted with 4 or 5 mM glucose present during hypoxia. Most of the beneficial effects of 50 mM glucose occurred during the first 25 min of hypoxia. Prior glycogen depletion had no deleterious effects during hypoxia with 50 mM glucose present, but exacerbated cardiac dysfunction during hypoxia with 5 mM glucose present. These findings indicate that enhanced utilization of exogenous glucose improved cardiac function during hypoxia without increasing total glycolytic flux or tissue high-energy phosphate levels, suggesting a novel cardioprotective mechanism.

Effects of glucose-insulin-potassium infusion on glycogen levels in cardiac and skeletal muscles in rats

The effects of loading with glucose-insulin-potassium on the glycogen contents of the heart and peripheral musculature were studied in rats. One group of animals was given intravenous infusion of high concentrations of glucose containing insulin and potassium for 3 days. A control group received the same volume of saline. The hearts and rectus femoris muscles were then analysed for levels of glycogen. It was found that loading with glucose-insulin-potassium induced a decrease in cardiac stores of glycogen while there were no changes in glycogen stores of peripheral musculature as compared to the control animals.

Dual carbon-labeled isotope experiments using D-[6-14C] glucose and L-[1,2,3-13C3] lactate: a new approach for investigating human myocardial metabolism during ischemia

Simultaneous lactate production and extraction have been previously demonstrated in the myocardium in patients with coronary artery disease. To quantitate this lactate production and determine its source, dual carbon-labeled isotope experiments were performed. L-[1,2,3-13C3] lactate and D-[6-14C] glucose were infused in 10 patients with significant coronary artery disease. Metabolic samples were obtained at rest and during atrial pacing. Despite net chemical myocardial lactate extraction in the 10 patients at rest and no evidence of clinical ischemia, the L-[1,2,3-13C3] lactate analysis demonstrated that lactate was being released by the myocardium. During atrial pacing, seven patients did not develop clinical symptoms of ischemia, and the chemical lactate analysis showed net lactate extraction. However, tracer analysis demonstrated that there was a significant increase in the lactate released during atrial pacing (from 6.9 +/- 2.3 to 16.2 +/- 10.1 mumol/min) (p less than 0.05). In these seven patients, circulating glucose was the source of 23 +/- 15% of the lactate released at rest, and there was no significant change during pacing. The remaining three patients had mild chest pain and net chemical lactate production during pacing. Lactate release detected by the tracer increased from 5.7 +/- 3.0 mumol/min at rest to 50.9 +/- 16.8 mumol/min during pacing (p less than 0.01). In these patients, the contribution of glucose to lactate production increased significantly during pacing-induced clinical ischemia from 25 +/- 22 to 67 +/- 14% (p less than 0.005). Thus, dual carbon-labeled isotopic experiments are powerful tools for investigating myocardial metabolic pathways.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Fetal carbohydrate metabolism: its clinical importance

A basic understanding of fetal nutrition and metabolism is essential in the clinical management of the obstetric patient. The fetus depends upon a constant infusion of glucose for energy production and growth. Maternal glucose is the prime source of this nutrient. Alterations in maternal carbohydrate homeostasis will lead to changes in fetal metabolism. In diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia may produce hyperinsulinemia and macrosomia. The growth-retarded fetus may have a decreased supply of maternal glucose and reduced amounts of hepatic glycogen and adipose tissue. The fetus must depend upon these stores for survival during periods of intrauterine hypoxia. In the newborn period, hypothermia and hypoxia may rapidly deplete energy reserves. With this information, the clinician may more knowledgeably manage dietary demands in the antepartum patient, fetal distress during labor, and the immediate newborn period.

Changes in the sensitivity to hypoxia and glucose deprivation in the isolated perfused rabbit heart during perinatal development

The isometric contraction of the isolated rabbit myocardium was measured from 24 days post coitum (dpc) to young adulthood. Tension per gram of heart as developed by the isolated perfused hearts remained constant during late foetal life but increased during the first postnatal week. Sensitivity to hypoxia rapidly increased during foetal life from 26 to 28 days post coitum. In young foetal hearts (up to 28 days post coitum), contraction continued for several hours in the absence of glucose. In contrast, from 28 days post coitum onwards foetal hearts became increasingly dependent on external glucose to maintain their contractility. This change was concomitant with a decrease in myocardial glycogen content. Intracellular electrical activity recorded in the absence of glucose showed that during hypoxia in the foetus at term were reduced, whereas normal activity continued in the same hypoxic glucose-free medium in hearts from foetuses 26 days post coitum. The relative role of glycolysis and oxidative metabolism is discussed and the importance of glycogenolytic metabolism in young isolated foetal hearts is pointed out.

Protective role of increased myocardial glycogen stores in cardiac anoxia in the rat

To determine whether increased glycogen stores might protect the heart against anoxia, experiments were performed in the isolated perfused rat heart. Marked differences in cardiac glycogen were produced by comparing hearts from rats previously treated with reserpine with hearts from control rats. Lesser differences in cardiac glycogen were produced in hearts by perfusing them for 15 minutes without glucose (0 mM glucose) or with 20 mM glucose. Both groups were then studied during a 5-minute anoxic cycle with 5 mM glucose as the exogenous substrate. Hearts from the reserpine-treated rats had higher left ventricular pressures, maximal rate of left ventricular pressure rise, and lactate output after 2 minutes of anoxia than the hearts from control rats. Similar but less marked mechanical differences were observed between 0 mM glucose and 20 mM glucose hearts. The mechanical differences during anoxia between the two groups were not abolished by simultaneous L-norepinephrine administration. Hearts with greater initial glycogen stores had higher glycogenolytic rates, and proportionately more lactate was produced from glycogen than from glucose. Thus, anaerobic ATP production per mole of hexose was greater in hearts with higher glycogen stores. Calculated ATP production was also greater in hearts from the reserpine-treated rats than in those from control animals.

These studies demonstrate that both marked and minor elevations in cardiac glycogen are associated with greater glycolytic reserve and improved mechanical resistance to anoxia. This appears to be mainly due to enhanced glycogenolysis and anaerobic ATP production.