Development of phosphatidyl glycerol biosynthesis in the lungs of fetuses of diabetic rats.

The lungs of fetuses of streptozotocin-diabetic rats were examined for their ability to incorporate U-14C-glucose into phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl glycerol, phosphatidyl inositol and lysophosphatidyl choline. In the lungs of control rats an increased biosynthesis of phosphatidyl glycerol in late pregnancy suggested a close association between the production of this phospholipid and the terminal maturation of the fetal lung. In the offspring of diabetic rats the incorporation of 14C-glucose into phosphatidyl choline, lysophosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl glycerol was markedly decreased compared with the control rats on gestational day 20, whereas no difference was seen at day 22. Insulin treatment of the pregnant rats restored the biosynthesis of phosphatidyl choline and lysophosphatidyl choline towards normal on gestational day 20, while the ratio of phosphatidyl glycerol to phosphatidyl inositol incorporation of 14C-glucose was decreased, suggesting that the biosynthesis of phosphatidyl glycerol is more sensitive than that of phosphatidyl choline and lysophosphatidyl choline to the metabolic disturbances inherent in maternal diabetes. The delayed fetal pulmonary maturation occurred without fetal hyperinsulinism which suggests that this latter feature may not be of crucial significance in the aetiology of the respiratory distress syndrome.