In vivo hyperglycemia and its effect on Glut-1 expression in the embryonic heart.

Background: Maternal diabetes exposes embryos to periods of hyperglycemia. Glucose is important for normal cardiogenesis, and Glut-1 is the predominant glucose transporter in the embryo.

Methods: Pregnant mice were exposed to 6 or 12 hr hyperglycemia during organogenesis using intraperitoneal (IP) injections of D-glucose on gestational day (GD) 9.