Oxygen transport in conscious newborn dogs during hypoxic hypometabolism

We questioned whether the decrease in O2 consumption (VO2) during hypoxia in newborns is a regulated response or reflects a limitation in O2 availability. Experiments were conducted on previously instrumented conscious newborn dogs. VO2 was measured at a warm ambient temperature (30 degrees C, n = 7) or in the cold (20 degrees C, n = 6), while the animals breathed air or were sequentially exposed to 15 min of fractional inspired O2 (FIO2): 21, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, and 6%. In normoxia, VO2 averaged 15 +/- 1 (SE) and 25 +/- 1 ml . kg-1 . min-1 in warm and cold conditions, respectively. In the warm condition, hypometabolism (i.e., hypoxic VO2 < normoxic VO2) occurred at FIO2