ABSTRACT
During pregnancy, the mother supplies multiple nutrients as energy source for fetus growth, including glucose, free fatty acids, amino acids, and ketone bodies. Maternal intakes of both glucose and lipids have been positively associated with infant birth weight. Hyperglycemia during pregnancy profoundly changes the maternal and fetal environment milieu, which are enriched with several growth factors, hormones, and cytokines, those are altered in diabetes. This chapter will evaluate the effects of glucose, free fatty acid, and insulin on the invasion and angiogenesis-related activities of the rst-trimester placental trophoblast to understand their effects on early placental development.
