CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 33Birth, Development, and HealthPancreatic function and diabetesAdrenal Hormones and Disorders

Adrenal glands are essential for activation of glucogenesis during undernutrition in fetal sheep near term

Open access
Fowden, A. L., Forhead, A. J.·2011·American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism
DOI 10.1152/ajpendo.00205.2010PMC PMC3023201
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

In adults, the adrenal glands are essential for the metabolic response to stress, but little is known about their role in fetal metabolism. This study examined the effects of adrenalectomizing fetal sheep on glucose and oxygen metabolism in utero in fed conditions and after maternal fasting for 48 h near term. Fetal adrenalectomy (AX) had little effect on the rates of glucose and oxygen metabolism by the fetus or uteroplacental tissues in fed conditions. Endogenous glucose production was negligible in both AX and intact, sham-operated fetuses in fed conditions. Maternal fasting reduced fetal glucose levels and umbilical glucose uptake in both groups of fetuses to a similar extent but activated glucose production only in the intact fetuses. The lack of fasting-induced glucogenesis in AX fetuses was accompanied by falls in fetal glucose ultilization and oxygen consumption not seen in intact controls. The circulating concentrations of cortisol and total catecholamines, and the hepatic glycogen content and activities of key gluconeogenic enzymes, were also less in AX than intact fetuses in fasted animals. Insulin concentrations were also lower in AX than intact fetuses in both nutritional states. Maternal glucose utilization and its distribution between the fetal, uteroplacental, and nonuterine maternal tissues were unaffected by fetal AX in both nutritional states. Ovine fetal adrenal glands, therefore, have little effect on basal rates of fetal glucose and oxygen metabolism but are essential for activating fetal glucogenesis in response to maternal fasting. They may also be involved in regulating insulin sensitivity in utero.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1152/ajpendo.00205.2010

Cites

44 of 44 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In late gestation once the sheep fetus has developed the capacity for glucogenesis, the placenta can consume glucose from the fetal circulation if the maternal supply is limited or concentration gradients are manipulated experimentally.

    “However, in late gestation once the sheep fetus has developed the capacity for glucogenesis, the placenta can consume glucose from the fetal circulation if the maternal supply is limited or concentration gradients are manipulated experimentally (190,194,248).”

    From Placental Origins of Chronic Disease (2016) · cites this paper as [190]

  • Variations in maternal nutritional state have little effect on oxygen consumption by the ovine utero-placental tissues.

    “Variations in maternal nutritional state have little effect on oxygen consumption by the ovine utero-placental tissues (99,148,190,554).”

    From Placental Origins of Chronic Disease (2016) · cites this paper as [190]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [24]24. Jellyman JK, Cripps RL, Martin-Gronert M, Giussani DA, Ozanne SE, Forhead AJ, Fowden AL. Ontogeny of insulin signallling pathways in ovine fetal skeletal muscle during late gestation (Abstract). Proc Physiol Soc 11: PC35, 2008 [Google Scholar]

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Fowden, A. L., & Forhead, A. J.
Affiliations
University of Cambridge (GB)
Corresponding author
Fowden, A. L.
ORCID
Forhead, A. J.
Venue
American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism
Publisher
American Physiological Society
Published
2011-01
Volume
300
Issue
1
Pages
E94-E102
ISSN
  • 0193-1849 (ISSN-L)
  • 1522-1555
DOI
10.1152/ajpendo.00205.2010
PMC
PMC3023201
OpenAlex
W2166800134
Cited by
33
References
44
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 7
FWCI
2.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (S18103)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Pancreatic function and diabetes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
Keywords
fetal adrenal gland, adrenalectomy, maternal fasting, fetal glucose metabolism, cortisol, catecholamines, liver glycogen, gluconeogenic enzymes, insulin sensitivity, fetal sheep
MeSH terms
Adrenal Cortex Hormones, Adrenal Glands, Adrenalectomy, Algorithms, Animals, Blood Glucose, Female, Food Deprivation, Gluconeogenesis, Glucose, Liver, Liver Glycogen, Oxygen Consumption, Placenta, Pregnancy, Sheep, Umbilical Cord, Uterus, Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Fetal Nutrition Disorders

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review