Abstract
Lactate is produced by the placenta and is an important metabolic substrate for fetal lambs. However, utilization of lactate by the fetal liver specifically has not been assessed. We measured net hepatic lactate uptake in 26 normoxemic fetal lambs at 128 (121-138) days gestation, with catheters chronically maintained in descending aorta, inferior vena cava, right or left hepatic veins and umbilical vein (UV). Lactate and hemoglobin concentrations and O2 saturations were measured in all vessels 3-7 days after surgery, and hepatic and umbilical blood flows measured by injecting radioactive microspheres into UV. VO2 of each liver lobe was 1.60 ± 1.65 ml/min. Net lactate provided to the fetus from the placenta was 4.55 ± 5.04 mg/min, and total lactate delivery to the liver was 44.4 ± 21.2 mg/min. Net lactate uptake by each liver lobe was 2.06 ± 2.22 mg/min, so that total hepatic lactate uptake was similar to that provided by the placenta. However, hepatic extraction was only about 10% of the lactate delivered. Lactate is thus an important substrate for the fetal liver; calculation of lactate: oxygen quotients indicated that lactate was used metabolically for processes other than oxidation as a substrate.
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