The renal response to the ingestion of fluid by the fetal sheep.

To see if the variability in fetal urine flow and sodium excretion was related to fetal drinking activity, renal function was investigated in two groups of oesophageally-ligated fetuses and one group of non-ligated fetuses. There was no significant difference in urine flow, sodium excretion or glomerular filtration rate in the ligated fetuses compared with the non-ligated fetuses. Furthermore, oesophageal ligation had no effect on the variability in urine flow and sodium excretion rate. The response of fetal kidney to ingestion of fluid was investigaeed in 2 groups of oesophageally-ligated fetuses. In one group it was shown that ingestion of 20 ml/kg of amniotic fluid by the fetus had no consistent effect on fetal renal function. In the other group it was shown that the ingestion of 200 ml water also had no consistent effect on fetal renal function. The water load caused a rise in fetal blood pressure and a fall in plasma osmolality. Since there was no significant increase in free water clearance and fetal plasma osmolality decreased then rose towards control levels, it is concluded that the oral water load was absorbed from the fetal gastrointestinal tract and diffused out of the fetal compartment across the placenta. These experiments show that fetal drinking is probably not responsible for the variability often seen in fetal urine flow and sodium excretion rate.