Hepatic Erythropoiesis in Infants of Diabetic Mothers: A Morphometric Study

Abstract

Hepatic erythropoietic tissue is inversely proportional to the gestational age both in infants of diabetic mothers and in control cases. Hepatic erythropoietic and indices range from 17.8 in fetuses and babies before 28 week's gestational age to about 1.0 in fetuses and babies at 40–42 week's gestational age. The decline with gestational age is gradual in the last 10–12 weeks of in utero development. Infants of diabetic mothers who are normally grown have normal amounts of erythropoiesis in their livers. At term, large infants of diabetic mothers have excessive hepatic erythropoiesis. Hypoxia, a frequent feature in infants of diabetic mothers, is probably responsible for the increased erythropoiesis, but an alternate mechanism may be that hyperinsulinemia directly stimulates erythroid precursors or erythropoietin production.

Key Words:

• Erythropoiesis
• Liver
• diabetic mothers