Circulatory and Humoral Responses of Sympathectomized Fetal Sheep to Hypoxemia

In fetal sheep, hypoxemia causes arterial hypertension, bradycardia, a redistribution of blood flow, and an increase in plasma vasopressin and catecholamine concentrations. To assess the role of the sympathetic nervous system in mediating these responses, we administered 6-hydroxydopamine to 11 chronically catheterized fetal sheep. Some of the responses to acute hypoxemia, achieved by administration of a low-O2 gas mixture to the ewe, were similar to those in intact fetal sheep. Fetal arterial O2 tension decreased from 22 +/- 3 to 12 +/- 3 (SD) Torr; fetal heart rate decreased transiently; combined ventricular output and umbilical-placental blood flow, as measured by the radionuclide-labeled microsphere technique, were maintained; cerebral, myocardial, and adrenal blood flow increased, and pulmonary blood flow decreased. However, there was no significant change in arterial pressure or blood flow to the peripheral, renal, and splanchnic circulations in the chemically sympathectomized fetuses in response to hypoxemia. The sympathetic nervous system is important in certain fetal vascular responses to hypoxemia but is not necessary for vascular responses in certain critical organs and thus is not crucial for fetal survival during hypoxia.