Cardiac output and peripheral resistance during larval development in the anuran amphibian Xenopus laevis

Stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) were measured in anesthetized larvae of Xenopus laevis from hatching (3 mg) to the end of metamorphosis (approximately 1 g). CO and SV were calculated from videotaped images of the intact beating heart. SV increased from 2.4 x 10(-3) microliters at 3 mg body mass to 7.6 microliters at 1 g. CO increased from 0.25 microliter/min at 3 mg to 623 microliters/min at 1 g. With use of CO, along with arterial pressures from another study [P.-C. L. Hou and W. W. Burggren. Am. J. Physiol. 269 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 38): R1120-R1125, 1995], peripheral resistance and cardiac work were also calculated. Resistance decreased rapidly from 701 peripheral resistance units (PRU, mmHg.s.mm-3) at 3 mg body mass to 79 PRU at 20 mg and gradually declined toward 0.9 PRU at 1 g. Cardiac work increased from 0.06 dyn.mm at 3 mg body mass to 1.27 dyn.mm at 20 mg and then climbed sharply to 717 dyn.mm at 1 g. The general pattern of change in hemodynamic variables (except heart rate) during larval development is similar in Xenopus laevis and chick embryos, suggesting a common pattern for hemodynamic development in vertebrate embryos/larvae.