CONTROL OF LIPOPROTEIN AND STEROID LEVELS IN THE FETUS

我们以前提供的证据表明，（1）类固醇合成在 人胎儿肾上腺，通常在过去的6-10年中加速 妊娠妇女的新生儿中， 并发症（高血压、糖尿病、严重感染）;（2）血浆 脂蛋白，特别是低密度脂蛋白（LDL）。促进 体外胎儿肾上腺类固醇分泌;（3）胎儿血浆中 胆固醇（c），尤其是LDL-C，似乎部分受 胎儿肾上腺的摄取率，当肾上腺 肾上腺活动最高时，处于静止和低水平;（4）肺 成熟似乎与胎儿的内分泌环境有关， 特别是那些直接或间接由胎儿产生的激素 肾上腺因此，我们的目的（1）定义的营养调控的 正常妊娠和复杂妊娠胎儿肾上腺皮质定量测定 胎儿血浆ACTH和其他POMC衍生肽贯穿后者 在各种母亲/胎儿健康情况下的妊娠一半; (2)为了阐明似乎独立功能的机制， 胎儿和新皮质区的人胎儿肾上腺通过评估 受体同化的脂蛋白C在类固醇合成中的应用 介导的和受体非依赖性途径和C从头合成 在胎儿肾上腺的分离区，过程以及 胎儿中类固醇生成酶和LDL受体的产生 肾上腺;（4）确定调节胎儿血浆的因素 通过研究胎肝合成载脂蛋白 并通过定量致死性血浆脂蛋白-C和载脂蛋白， 正常和复杂的怀孕。这些研究的结果应该是 了解胎儿发育的几个方面的基础 以及肾上腺中区域功能的差异调节， 脂蛋白稳态在出生后的生活。

We previously have provided evidence that (1) steroidogenesis in the human fetal adrenal, which is normally accelerated during the last 6-10 weeks of gestation, is impaired in newborns of women with pregnancy complication (hypertension, diabetes, severe infections); (2) plasma lipoproteins, particularly low-density lipoproteins (LDL). facilitate fetal adrenal steroid secretion in vitro; (3) fetal plasma levels of cholesterol (c), especially LDL-C, appear to be regulated, in part, by the rate of uptake by the fetal adrenals, being high when the adrenal is quiescent and being low when adrenal activity is highest; (4) lung maturation appears to be related to the endocrine milieu of the fetus, especially those hormones produced directly or indirectly from the fetal adrenal. Thus, we purpose (1) to define the trophic regulation of the fetal adrenal during normal and complicated pregnancy by quantifying fetal plasma ACTH and other POMC-derived peptides throughout the latter half of gestation under varied circumstances of maternal/fetal health; (2) to elucidate mechanisms for the seemingly independent function of the fetal and neocortical zones of the human fetal adrenal by evaluating the utilization in steroidogenesis of lipoprotein-C assimilated by receptor- mediated and receptor-independent pathways and of C synthesized de novo in the separated zones of the fetal adrenal, processes as well as the production of steroidogenic enzymes and the LDL receptor in the fetal adrenal; and (4) to define the factors that regulate fetal plasma lipoproteins by investigating apolipoprotein synthesis by the fetal liver and by quantifying fatal plasma lipoprotein-c and apolipoproteins during normal and complicated pregnancy. The results of these studies should be fundamental to an understanding of several aspects of fetal development and of the differential regulation of zonal function in the adrenal and lipoprotein homeostasis during postnatal life.