Cardiovascular responses to norepinephrine and arginine vasopressin infusion in chronically catheterized fetal lambs.

Fetal cardiovascular responses to infused norepinephrine (NE) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) were compared in bilaterally vagotomized and chronically catheterized (control) fetal lambs. In the control fetuses, NE infusion was characterized during the first five minutes by a decreased fetal heart rate (FHR) and increased mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and by a preejection period (PEP) followed by a gradual return to the original values. NE infusion in vagotomized fetuses was followed by tachycardia, decreased PEP without the initial prolongation and an MABP response similar to that in the controls. AVP in control fetuses caused a persistent decrease in the FHR and increase in MABP and PEP. Vagotomy affected only the FHR response: the decrease was persistent but smaller. AVP produced persistent fetal cardiovascular responses regardless of vagotomy; however, the biphasic response FHR pattern, suggestive of NE tachyphylaxis, was eliminated by vagotomy.