Relationships between the expression of placental glucose transporter and maternal serum cortisol level in fetal growth restriction

Objective To explore the effect of glucose transporter(GLUT) expression in human term placenta when complicated with fetal growth restriction (FGR) and its correlation with maternal serum cortisol level. Methods Twenty pregnant women with FGR and 24 normal pregnant control were selected. The distribution of GLUT_1 in human placenta was detected by immunohistochemistry and the serum cortisol level by radioimmunoassay before delivery.The birth weight and the placental weight were measured at delivery. Results The expression of GLUT_1 in FGR group was lower than that of the control (149.8±8.2 vs 155.9±6.5, P 0.05), and was significantly lower than that of the control in basal membranes of syncytial barrier (135.3±4.2 vs 153.9±8.5, P 0.001). Negative correlation was shown between the GLUT_1 expression and maternal serum cortisol level ( r =-0.803, P 0.01). Conclusions The reduced expression of GLUT_1 in placenta may be one of the factors contributing to FGR. Cortisol might take part in the occurrence and development of FGR through inhibiting the placental GLUT_1 expression.