A majority of previous studies of fetal responses to acute hypoxemia has focused on the response of the sheep fetus greater than 120 days of gestation when many regulatory systems have been established. To assess the response of younger, less well-developed fetuses, we exposed two groups of fetal sheep (I, 84-91 days; II, 97-99 days gestational age) to acute hypoxemia by giving the ewe a gas mixture containing 9% O2 to breathe. We decreased descending aortic PO2 in both groups of fetuses [I, 24 +/- 6 to 14 +/- 3 (SD) Torr; II, 23 +/- 3 to 12 +/- 4 Torr] by a degree similar to that achieved in previous studies of fetuses greater than 120 days of gestation. Mean arterial blood pressure (I, 31 +/- 6; II, 40 +/- 3 Torr) did not change significantly from control values, and heart rate (I, 224 +/- 27; II, 203 +/- 16 beats/min) increased significantly in group II fetuses with hypoxemia. In group I and II fetuses, as in older fetuses, cerebral, myocardial, and adrenal blood flows, measured by the microsphere technique, increased, and pulmonary blood flow decreased. These responses mature early and are likely local vascular responses to decreases in oxygen content. Combined ventricular output and umbilical-placental blood flow decreased significantly in both groups. Unlike the response of the fetus greater than 120 days, acute hypoxemia did not decrease blood flow to the musculoskeletal and cutaneous circulations (group I only), gastrointestinal, or renal circulations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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