Effects of hypoxia on plasma amino acids and taurine of ovine fetuses

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of hypoxia and circulatory insufficiency on taurine and other plasma amino acid levels as adaptive responses of preterm and term gestation ovine fetuses to severe hypoxia in utero. Methods: During general anaesthesia 13 exteriorized, instrumented ovine fetuses (6 preterm and 7 term gestation) were exposed to sustained hypoxia caused by reduction of uterine blood flow. A vascular occluder placed around the maternal common iliac artery enabled total compression. Transit-time flow probes on both uterine arteries recorded continuously blood flow volume.…