Incubation of labelled triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins with rat adipose tissue in the presence of heparin.

concentrations were much higher in thyroidectomized than in control mothers, and starvation produced a significant decrease in this parameter in thyroidectomized but not in control mothers. Plasma thyrotropin concentrations were not affected in the foetuses of either group. Plasma glycerol concentration was augmented with starvation in control mothers and foetuses, but it did not change in either the thyroidectomized mothers or their foetuses. Plasma total amino acid concentrations decreased in starved control mothers, but the concentrations in their foetuses remained unchanged. In contrast, starvation did not af€ect this parameter in thyroidectomized mothers, but the value decreased in their foetuses. Liver glycogen concentration was decreased in the foetuses from thvroidectomized mothers as comDared with is necessary for successful early neonatal life, is severely impaired in foetuses of hypothyroid mothers. This is most evident when the mother is starved and indicates that the decreased response to starvation in the hypothyroid mother interferes with the continuous availability of substrates to the foetus, causing its intense developmental retardation.