INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTORS AND PLACENTAL FUNCTION

Abstract

Placentas from different species differ not only in their cellular structure and normal trajectory of growth but also in the architecture of their placental vasculature and the transport and exchange mechanisms that determine nutritional transfer from mother to fetus and waste disposal from fetus to mother.1Many maternal and fetal hormonal and nutritional factors, as well as placental paracrine and autocrine systems affect placental growth and development throughout gestation.2Nutrients delivered from the maternal circulation are as important for placental growth as they are for fetal growth. In addition to passing across the placenta to provide the building blocks for fetal growth, amino acids, carbohydrate and lipids are incorporated into the placenta.