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Biomedical subjects

A D Stevens

Publications and source records attributed to A D Stevens.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Changes in fetal renal function in response to infusions of a hyperosmotic solution of mannitol to the ewe.

In six pregnant ewes a reduction in transplacental water transfer was produced by increasing maternal osmolality (by infusion of 180 g of mannitol in 500 ml of 0.15 M-sodium chloride) and the fetal renal responses to this reduction in water transfer were studied. These responses were compared with the renal responses of five other chronically catheterized fetal lambs whose mothers received I.V. infusions of 500 ml of 0.15 M-sodium chloride. Intravenous infusion of 500 ml of 0.15 M-sodium chloride to the ewe produced no changes in fetal plasma sodium, potassium or plasma renin activity and had no effect on fetal renal function. After I.V. infusion of mannitol to the ewe, fetal urinary flow rate fell from control levels of 0.69 +/- 0.12 ml/min to 0.32 +/- 0.04 ml/min (S.E. of mean, P less than 0.006). This fall in urinary flow rate was due to increased water reabsorption because there was no change in glomerular filtration rate and osmolar clearance. Fetal urinary sodium excretion increased from 16.2 +/- 2.0 mumol/min, to 34.2 +/- 6.9 mumol/min (S.E. of mean, P less than 0.04). This increase in fetal urinary sodium excretion was due to a fall in the fractional reabsorption of sodium which was related to this rise in fetal plasma sodium levels that occurred following infusion of mannitol to the ewe. The increases in fetal plasma sodium levels were also associated with reductions in fetal plasma renin activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The relationship between plasma renin activity and renal electrolyte excretion in the fetal sheep.

In eight fetal sheep the factors influencing renal sodium excretion were determined and related to the activity of the renin-angiotensin system. There was a direct relationship between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and the amount of sodium reabsorbed (P less than 0.001) suggesting that glomerular tubular balance plays an important role in regulation of fetal sodium excretion. There was also a direct relationship between GFR and urinary sodium excretion (P less than 0.05). Since the percentage of the filtered sodium load that was reabsorbed was inversely related to the urinary Na/K ratio, (P less 0.001), the distal convoluted tubule is actively involved in the regulation of renal sodium excretion. There was no relationship between plasma renin activity and plasma sodium, and plasma osmolality or mean arterial pressure. There was however an inverse relationship between urinary sodium excretion and plasma renin activity, similar to that seen in adult animals (Vander & Miller, 1964) and between log plasma renin activity and GFR (P less than 0.001). These experiments do not distinguish between a possible effect of angiotensin on GFR and hence renal sodium excretion, and the possible effects of a variable GFR on distal tubular sodium delivery and hence renin secretion. However they do show that the fetal renin-angiotensin system like the adult renin-angiotensin system is closely linked to those renal factors that influence renal sodium excretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

The cardiovascular responses of conscious newborn lambs treated in utero with 6-hydroxydopamine.

Fourteen fetal sheep were treated in utero with a single intramuscular injection or three to four injections of 6-hydroxydopamine. After birth the cardiovascular responses of these lambs to adrenergic drugs were studied and compared with the cardiovascular responses of untreated newborn lambs. Lambs which received three to four injections of 6-hydroxydopamine were more sensitive to the pressor actions of noradrenaline and phenylephrine than were control lambs or lambs which received a single injection of 6-hydroxydopamine. The supersensitivity to noradrenaline persisted in multiple treatment lambs until at least 5 months of age. Lambs which received multiple injections of 6-hydroxydopamine were also subsensitive to the pressor action of tyramine. The sensitivity to the pressor actions of noradrenaline and phenylephrine in lambs which received a single injection of 6-hydroxydopamine lay between that of control and multiple treatment groups. Despite the pharmacological evidence of impairment of sympathetic innervation of peripheral blood vessels plus a lack of responsiveness of these lambs to alpha-adrenergic blockade with phentolamine, treated lambs had arterial pressures and heart rates similar to control lambs. As well, treated lambs showed no impairment in their ability to reflexly regulate heart rate in response to changes in arterial pressure, which is consistent with the recently reported vagal control of the cardiac baroreceptor reflex.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The action of angiotensin II on the baroreflex response of the conscious ewe and the conscious fetus.

1. In conscious non-pregnant and pregnant ewes and in chronic fetal lamb preparations, the beat by beat relationship between pulse interval and systolic pressure was studied during acute elevations in arterial pressure induced by phenylephrine. Baroreflex sensitivity, which was defined as the slope of the pressure-pulse interval relationship when phenylephrine was used to raise pressure, was abolished by atropine and increased by propranolol. Baroreflex sensitivity was less in pregnant ewes and in foetal lambs compared with non-pregnant ewes. 2. These findings suggest that the vagus nerve is responsible for the reflex bradycardia that occurs in the foetus and the ewe when arterial pressure is increased. 3. In both fetal and adult sheep, actue hypertension due to I.V. injection of angiotensin II was not associated with a consistent and progressive bradycardia, such as was seen with acute hypertension caused by phenylephrine. Angiotensin II has no direct chronotropic effect on heart rate in either the adult or the fetus. 4. No linear relationship between arterial pressure and pulse interval was seen when angiotensin II was used to raise pressure in sheep which were treated with propranolol. Therefore the lack of cardiac slowing with pressor doses of angiotensin II was not due to concomitant activation of the sympathoadrenal system. 5. It is concluded that in both fetal and adult sheep angiotensin II reduces the increase in vagal tone which is responsible for slowing of heart rate in response to acute rises in arterial pressure.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1969

Walter Reed, M.D.

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History, 19th Century↗