Free and sulfoconjugated catecholamine responses at birth in newborn sheep

There have been little data on catecholamine sulfoconjugation in developing animals or humans. We studied the differences in free and sulfoconjugated catecholamines at birth in newborn sheep. Baseline concentrations of sulfoconjugated norepinephrine and epinephrine were the predominant form of circulating catecholamine, representing 77 +/- 4 and 65 +/- 12% of total circulating catecholamines, respectively. At birth the free epinephrine concentration increased 10-fold (49 +/- 27 to 653 +/- 21 pg/ml, respectively), and plasma free norepinephrine concentration rose 4-fold (307 +/- 92 to 1,178 +/- 389 pg/ml). In contrast, there was only a transient twofold increase in the sulfoconjugated epinephrine. There was no increase in the sulfoconjugated form of norepinephrine. These data demonstrate that, while the near-term newborn sheep has a well-developed mechanism for sulfoconjugation of circulating catecholamines, this does not occur rapidly. During the logarithmic increases of circulating catecholamines at birth, there are not commensurate increases in the concentration of sulfoconjugated norepinephrine or epinephrine. Thus sulfoconjugation does not appear to represent a significant mechanism for inactivation of the high circulating levels of catecholamines seen at birth.