Abstract
The main nutritional role of the placenta is to provide the correct mix of nutrients in sufficient quantities to support fetal growth and development throughout pregnancy while coping with wide variations in maternal nutrient intake between pregnancies and temporal variations within a pregnancy. The placenta represents a nutritional 'bottleneck' where competition for nutrient transporters and metabolic selectivity, acting in concert with maternal adaptations, allows the placenta to regulate the nutrient mix within the fetal circulation. The fetus itself also plays an active role in regulating key aspects of placental transport in order to meet its own nutrient requirements.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 68-74 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Volume | 4-4 |
| Edition | 3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780123848857 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780123750839 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Bibliographical note
This article is a revision of the previous edition article by P. Haggarty, volume 2, pp. 513–521, © 2005, Elsevier Ltd.Publisher Copyright:
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Adaptation
- Amino acids
- Epigenetics
- Fatty acids
- Growth retardation
- Imprinting
- Oxygen
- Placenta
- Programming
- Transporters