APPLICATION OF THE MULTITRACER TECHNIQUE: TRANSPORT OF VARIOUS ELEMENTS IN THE PREGNANT RATS AND THE FETUS

摘要

The placenta functions as a barrier between fetus and mother, providing regulation of heat exchange, respiration, nutrition, and excretion for the fetus. There is limited information on the transport of trace elements from the mother to the fetus. Transfer of trace elements via the placenta to the fetus rats was examined by the multitracer technique, which can be used to evaluate the behavior of many elements under the same experimental condition. In this experiment, the multitraer solution contained the following elements: Be, Na, Sc, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Tc and Ru. We examined the time courses of uptake of various elements in the placenta and the fetus. From these results, we observed a significant difference in time dependency between each element. The elements were divided into three groups. Based on the results, it was considered that the placenta is highly selective because essential elements are readily transported across placenta/membranes to the growing fetus, whereas nonessential metals hardly penetrated the placental barrier that protects the fetus from toxic effects.