Abstract
The transplacental passage and production of aldosterone by the mother and fetus were studied near term during a constant infusion of 1,2-3H-aldosterone to 9 mothers at the time of elective cesarean section.
This study showed that there was a transplacental passage of aldosterone. The fetal plasma levels of 1,2-3H-aldosterone, expressed as percentage of the matternal values, ranged from 40.0 to 79.2%. The levels of non-labeled hormone, determined by a double isotope dilution technique, were consistently higher in the fetus than in the mother (mean±SD = 17.2±9.5 mμg/100 ml and 3.7±1.4 mμg/100 ml, respectively). Since the specific activities of aldosterone were lower in the fetus than in the mother (6.5 to 23.4%), and if one assumes that equilibrium between maternal and fetal compartments was reached after more than 2 h of constant infusion, it can be concluded that the fetus secretes aldosterone.
The metabolic clearance: ate of aldosterone was not modified by pregnancy.
The steroid blood production of the mothers was about twice the non-pregnant values. the relatively small increments might be related to the fact that our subjects were supine for at least 10 h at the time of the study.
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Bayard, F., Ances, I., Tapper, A. et al. Placental Passage and Fetal Secretion of Aldosterone. Pediatr Res 4, 456 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197009000-00087
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197009000-00087
