Fig. 5.

Effect of chronic fetal anemic hypoxemia on hepatic PCK1 mRNA, G6PC mRNA, and glycogen. A: hepatic PCK1 mRNA levels were higher in anemic fetuses (n = 10) vs. controls (n = 7) (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between final day anemic (□) and control (●) fetal arterial plasma glucagon and hepatic PCK1 mRNA (B; r² = 0.52, P < 0.05), but not with fetal arterial plasma cortisol concentrations (C). D: G6PC mRNA levels were not statistically different between groups. There was a significant correlation between final day anemic (□) and control (●) fetal arterial plasma glucagon and G6PC mRNA (E; r² = 0.29, P < 0.05), but not with fetal arterial plasma cortisol concentrations (F). G: hepatic glycogen levels were greater in anemic vs. CON fetuses. There was an inverse correlation between final day anemic (□) and control (●) fetal arterial plasma glucagon and hepatic glucagon (H; r² = 0.52, P < 0.05), but not with fetal arterial plasma cortisol concentrations (I). Median and interquartile ranges are plotted for PCK1 and G6PC mRNA, and mean ± SE are plotted for glycogen. *P < 0.05 vs. controls.