REGULATION OF MATERNAL INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH-FACTOR-I BY PLACENTAL GROWTH-HORMONE IN PREGNANCY - POSSIBLE ACTION OF MATERNAL IGF-I ON FETAL GROWTH

In normal and in pathological human pregnancies, a specific placental growth hormone variant, rather than placental lactogen, substitutes fo r the suppressed pituitary GH to stimulate the maternal insulin-like g rowth factor I (IGF-I). In pathological pregancies with disorders of t he feto-placental unit, low levels of placental GH hormone result in r elatively low levels of maternal IGF-I. In normal pregnancies, the bab y birth weight is positively correlated with maternal IGF-I values.