METABOLIC PATHWAYS OF GLUCOSE IN HUMAN PLACENTA - CHANGES WITH GESTATION AND ADDED 17BETA-ESTRADIOL

Slices of human placenta taken at term or at 10 to 16 weeks of gestation were incubated with one of several 14C-labeled substrates. The conversion of 14C to products was measured. From these data the fractions of glucose metabolized in the Embden-Meyerhof pathway, the pentose phosphate pathway, the glucuronic acid cycle, and the non-triose phosphate pathway were calculated. Estradiol added to slices of young placenta increased the uptake and utilization of glucose and the formation of glycogen and glycerol. The experiments show that the pattern of glucose metabolism in the placenta changes markedly in the course of gestation and becomes simpler in term placenta. © 1969.