Growth hormone, glucose, and free fatty acid levels in mother and infant in normal, diabetic and toxaemic pregnancies.

Only a few investigations concerning growth hormone (HGH) levels in maternal and cord blood in humans have been made.These were limited to normal pregnancies (Greenwood, Hunter, and Klopper, 1964;Yen, Pearson, and Stratman, 1965).Though the absolute values of HGH cannot be compared in these two investigations since different methods of measuring the HGH were used, both studies found a higher concentration of HGH in the umbilical arterial plasma than in the umbilical venous and maternal plasma, suggesting an active secretion of HGH by the foetal anterior pituitary.This was further confirmed by the observations made by Cornblath, Parker, Reisner, Forbes, and Daughaday (1965), and Laron, Mannheimer, Pertzelan, and Nitzan (1966), who found, in newborn babies, conspicuously raised plasma growth hormone concentrations, equal to those found in acromegalic subjects.The present investigation was designed to study the mother-infant relationship of HGH in diabetic and toxaemic pregnancies, about which there is no available information.Material and Methods Three groups of subjects were studied: women with a normal pregnancy (Table I), pregnant diabetic women (Table II), and women who developed toxaemia of pregnancy (Table III).During labour all women were routinely given an intravenous drip containing oxytocin 5 units in 500 ml. of a 5% glucose solution.Up to delivery the women usually received about 200-300 ml.Blood was drawn into heparinized tubes from the mother and cord at delivery and from the infant 2 to 4 hours later.The greater time lapse usually took place when the delivery had taken place at night.The blood was stored at -4° C. until centrifugation.Free fatty acids (FFA) and true glucose (GOT) were determined the same day.