[Development of the sympatoadrenergic function in the fetus and the newborn infant]

An analysis of the available data concerning the events bringing to the completion of the adrenergic function in early life shows the existence of an early response making the detection of MOPEG-SO4 levels in the urine--the foetus and in the new-born. This response isn't the same in the adult and in the infant as in the latter the number of receptors is lower, the prevalent mediator is NA and the receptorial subtype is almost entirely beta. The effector system, on the contrary, is as fully developed in the infant as it's in the adult. Maybe it will be possible in the future to evaluate--through non-invasive methods such as the detection of MOPEG-SO4 levels in the urine--the degree of development of the central simpatoadrenergic system in order to exactly work out perinatal asphyxia and brains congenital injuries.