Main description:

th th st . On December 19 ,20 and 21 1979, we had the opportunlty to organize a Workshop on "Antenatal factors affecting meta bolic adaptation to extrauterine life - Role of carbohydra tes and energy metabolism". This meeting was made possible thanks to grants from the Committee of Medical Research and Public Health (CRM) of the Commission of European Communi ties. We want to express our warmst gratitude for the effort that has been made and we hope that the exchange of information between the participants will allow better understanding of the mechanism of adaptation to extrauterine life and that the conclusions drawn will contribute to a better care of the newborn. Adaptation to extrauterine life is one of the most impor tant steps in life. At the moment of birth, numerous conditions are drastically changed and in order to survive the newborn has to rely upon new sources of energy and of substrates. This switch over has to occur smoothly and any adaptation failure will result in the disturbance of impor tant metabolic functions. Mortality and morbidity in neo natal period remain still very high in comparison with the figures observed later in life; the reduction of mortality has been much more important in child and adult than in neonates.

Contents:

Session I : Carbohydrate Utilization in the Newborn.- The metabolism of glycogen in the liver of foetal and new-born rats.- Hormonal control of fetal liver glycogen metabolism.- Extrahepatic glycogen stores and their role in homeostasis.- Factors regulating blood glucose in the fetus and in the newborn.- Glucose turnover in the newborn rat.- Factors affecting intra uterine glycogen storage.- Factors affecting glucose metabolism in the newborn rat.- Carbohydrate metabolism in intrauterine growth retardation.- Discussion: Britton, Jones, Minkowski, Hull, Milner.- Session II : Energy Expenditure.- Caloric needs of the newborn..- Variations in the rate of oxygen consumption of newborn human infants.- Energy requirements for growth in the neonate.- The role of oleic acid as a substitute for glucose in brain cell cultures of neonatal mice.- Discussion: Britton, Hull, Girard, Bossi, Helge, Verellen, Minkowski.- Session III: Regulation of Insulin and Glucagon Secretion.- Insulin secretion and metabolism in the rat fetus during late gestation.- Glucagon secretion during the perinatal period.- Plasma insulin and glucagon in well-oxygenated and hypoxic fetal lambs.- Effects of insulin and glucagon on the mother and in the fetus.- Plasma corticosteroids in normal, premature and "small-for-dates" newborn infants throughout the neonatal period.- Somatomedin A activity in newborns.- Session IV: Practical Implications and General Discussion.- Effect of maternal diabetes on glucose regulation in the newborn.- Oral feeding recommendations in full-term and premature newborns.- Discussion: Eggermont, Salle, Teller, Shelley, De Meyer, Van Assche, Senterre, Verellen.- Summary, general discussion and some matters of thinking.