Placental expression of glucose transporter proteins 1 and 3 in growth-restricted fetal rats

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of intrauterine growth restriction on the placental expression of glucose transporter proteins. Study Design: Intrauterine growth restriction was induced by bilateral uterine artery ligation in the pregnant rat at a gestational age of 19 days (term is 21.5 days). Maternal rats were killed and fetuses were delivered by hysterotomy on gestational days 20 and 21. Control fetuses from mothers that had been subjected to a sham operation were studied simultaneously. Glucose transporter protein 1 and glucose transporter protein 3 messenger ribonucleic acid was quantified by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction amplification. Glucose transporter protein 1 and glucose transporter protein 3 densities in placental membranes were also assessed by Western blotting and by immunohistochemical analysis. Results: Glucose transporter protein 1 messenger ribonucleic acid, expressed as a multiple of the matched sham control value, was unchanged on both days 20 and 21 of gestation. Glucose transporter protein 3 messenger ribonucleic acid was also unchanged. Western blotting demonstrated no change in expression of glucose transporter protein 1 or glucose transporter protein 3 on either day 20 or 21 of gestation. Immunohistochemical staining patterns for glucose transporter protein 1 and glucose transporter protein 3 on the syncytiotrophoblastic membranes were similar between the growth-restricted group and the sham control group. Conclusion: Placental expression of glucose transporter proteins in the pregnant rat is unchanged with uteroplacental insufficiency. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;180:1017-23.)