The Transport of Riboflavin by Human Placenta1

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Abstract
Photofluorimetric analyses of maternal and fetal serum by the method of Burch, Bessey, and Lowrey showed that the concn. of free riboflavin is about 4 times as great in fetal blood as in maternal blood, in contrast, the concn. of flavin adenine dinucleotide is about twice as great in maternal blood as in fetal blood. The total concn. of all forms of riboflavin, free, mononucleotide and dinucleotide, is greater in fetal than in maternal blood. Minced placenta incubated in vitro will split flavin adenine dinucleotide to flavin mononucleotide and free riboflavin. Data suggest that the placenta transfers riboflavin from maternal to fetal blood by taking flavin adenine dinucleotide from the maternal blood, splitting this to free riboflavin, and secreting the free riboflavin into the fetal blood.

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