Effect of hyperthermia on uterine and umbilical blood flows in pregnant sheep

Uterine and umbilical blood flows were measured in pregnant sheep (125-142 days gestation) under normothermic and hyperthermic conditions using the Fick principle with [14C]antipyrine as the indicator. Exposure of the sheep to an ambient temperature of 43 +/- 1 degrees C (25-30% relative humidity) for 8 h increased maternal and fetal core temperatures 1.19 +/- 0.15 and 1.39 +/- 0.12 degrees C respectively. Maternal hyperventilation caused a significant decrease of both maternal and fetal arterial partial pressure of CO2 (Pa,CO2) and increase of arterial pH. Uterine blood flow increased significantly during the hyperthermia (+54.2 +/- 14.1%), the increase being correlated with the magnitude of the decrease of maternal Pa,CO2 (r = -0.84, P < 0.05) but not with the increase of maternal core temperature. The increase of uterine blood flow was not associated with a concomitant increase in the placental clearance of [14C]antipyrine, a result which could arise if the increase of blood flow was non-placental (i.e. did not occur within the cotyledons), or occurred through uterine arteriovenous shunts during the period of heat stress. Hyperthermia was not associated with a significant change of umbilical blood flow, placental transfer of glucose, or fetal glucose uptake. Since the loss of heat from the fetus occurs mainly across the placenta, we speculate that the apparent increase of uterine blood flow during maternal hyperthermia has an adaptive significance by maintaining conductive heat flux in a fetomaternal direction, even though cotyledonary (placental) blood flows did not increase.