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P Hawkins
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C Steyn
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HH McGarrigle
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T Saito
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T Ozaki
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LL Stratford
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DE Noakes
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MA Hanson
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The fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has numerous key roles in development. Epidemiological data have linked adverse prenatal nutrition with altered organ development and increased incidence of disease in adult life. We studied HPA axis development in resting and stimulated states in late gestation fetal sheep, following 15% reduction in maternal nutritional intake over the first 70 days of gestation (dGA). Fetuses from control (C) and nutrient-restricted (R) ewes were chronically catheterised and response profiles for ACTH and cortisol were determined at 113-116 and 125-127 dGA after administration of corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP). At 126-128 dGA cortisol profiles were also determined following ACTH administration. Basal ACTH and cortisol concentrations were not different between C and R fetuses. In R fetuses, ACTH response to CRH+AVP was significantly smaller at 113-116 dGA (P<0.01), and cortisol responses were smaller at both 113-116 dGA (P<0.01) and 125-127 dGA (P<0.0001). Cortisol response to ACTH was also smaller in R fetuses (P<0.001). We conclude that, in late gestation fetal sheep, pituitary and adrenal responsiveness is reduced following modest maternal nutrient restriction in early gestation.

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PE Stein
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SE White
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J Homan
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L Fraher
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HH McGarrigle
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MA Hanson
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AD Bocking
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The present study examines the effect of carotid sinus/vagosympathetic denervation on fetal endocrine responses to prolonged reduced uterine blood flow (RUBF). Fetal sheep had vascular catheters inserted following bilateral sectioning of the carotid sinus and vagus nerves (denervated, n = 7) or sham denervation (intact, n = 7). Uterine blood flow was mechanically restricted at 126.1 +/- 0.7 days (mean +/- S.E.M.) for 24 h, decreasing arterial oxygen saturation by 47.3 +/- 2.6% (P < 0.01). Fetal plasma samples were obtained at -1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h for subsequent analyses of arginine vasopressin (AVP), angiotensin II and catecholamines. The AVP response to prolonged RUBF was markedly attenuated in denervated fetuses (15.6 +/- 3.6 to 34.9 +/- 6.0 pg/ml) when compared with intact (10.0 +/- 1.4 to 127.3 +/- 28.4 pg/ml). In contrast, intact fetuses demonstrated no change in plasma angiotensin II concentrations with RUBF whereas denervated fetuses demonstrated a marked increase from 47.5 +/- 18.9 to 128.7 +/- 34.2 pg/ml. The norepinephrine and epinephrine responses to prolonged RUBF were attenuated in denervated fetuses (950.1 +/- 308.9 and 155.8 +/- 58.5 to 1268.3 +/- 474.6 and 290.6 +/- 160.2 pg/ml respectively) when compared with intact (1558.3 +/- 384.4 and 547.3 +/- 304.7 pg/ml to 3289.2 +/- 1219.8 and 896.8 +/- 467.8 pg/ml respectively). These results support a role for the peripheral chemoreceptors in mediating fetal endocrine responses to prolonged RUBF, which may in part lead to the altered cardiovascular responses observed in denervated fetuses under these conditions.

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