QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bell, A. W. Articles by Meschia, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bell, A. W. Articles by Meschia, G.

Relation between Metabolic Rate and Body Size in the Ovine Fetus^1,2,

School of Agriculture, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia 3083 ^* Division of Perinatal Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80262

Objectives were to describe the relations between fetal oxygen consumption (_O2), vital organ weights and body weight in sheep during growth between mid gestation and term (about 147 d). Umbilical _O2 in conscious, single-pregnant ewes and fetal wet and dry body weights were measured at 73–97 d (n = 14) and at 119–141 d (n = 28) of gestation. Fetal wet and dry organ weights were related to body weights in an additional seven single-pregnant and eight twin-pregnant ewes at 73–140 d. Fetal _O2/kg wet weight decreased by 25% between mid and late gestation, whereas _O2/kg dry weight decreased by 56% and was paralleled by a similar decline in the relative aggregate weight of the vital organs (liver, kidneys, heart, brain). Log-log regression of _O2 on dry body weight, and of dry vital organ weight on dry body weight yielded coefficients of 0.73 ± 0.02 and 0.66 ± 0.01, respectively, suggesting that a decline in the relative growth of metabolically active organs explains much of the decline in weight-specific _O2 during fetal development.

KEY WORDS: • fetus • oxygen consumption • body weight • organ weights • allometry

¹ Supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grants No. HD-00781 and No. HD-01866.

² Presented as part of the symposium, "Energy Metabolism in Live-stock Species," at the 5th Joint Meeting of the American Institute of Nutrition, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the Canadian Society for Nutritional Sciences, Davis, CA, July 1986.

³ Present address: Department of Animal Science, 262 Morrison Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4801.

Manuscript received 18 September 1986. Revision accepted 2 February 1987.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. A Giussani, A. J Forhead, and A. L Fowden Development of cardiovascular function in the horse fetus J. Physiol., June 15, 2005; 565(3): 1019 - 1030. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]