Effects of adrenergic agonists and antagonists on the blood pressure and heart rate of the pig fetus.

The effects of adrenergic agonists and antagonists on blood pressure and heart rate were investigated in 18 chronically catheterised pig fetuses aged between 102 and 109 days of gestation (term is 114 days). One fetus had been decapitated in utero at 42 days of gestation. The alpha adrenergic agonist methoxamine produced a small but dose dependent hypertension and a dose related slowing in heart rate. The beta adrenergic agonist isoprenaline decreased mean arterial pressure in a dose related manner and produced tachycardia. Propranolol, a beta adrenergic blocker, increased mean arterial pressure and decreased heart rate. The response to subsequent alpha adrenergic blockade with phentolamine was hypotension and a slight bradycardia. Decapitation at 42 days of gestation did not seem to change the fetal responsiveness to adrenergic agonists but removed the blood pressure response to beta blockade. These observations indicate that the heart and circulation of the pig fetus are under adrenergic vasomotor control during late gestation.