Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that the sexually dimorphic adrenocortical response to stress is already established before birth. Chronically instrumented late gestation pregnant sheep carrying 16 male and 15 female age-matched singleton fetuses were subjected to an acute episode of hypoxic stress. Maternal and fetal blood gases, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol were measured. In addition, six male and six female fetuses received the ACTH analog, Synacthen, and plasma cortisol was measured. During hypoxic stress, the increment in plasma cortisol was 2-fold greater in male versus females fetuses (30.6 ± 3.2 versus 14.3 ± 2.0 ng/mL; p < 0.001) mediated, in part, by greater adrenocortical sensitivity to ACTH. The data support the hypothesis tested and show that sex-specific differences in the cortisol stress response are present before birth with the output of cortisol being much greater in male than in female fetuses.
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Abbreviations
- HPA:
-
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
- pHa:
-
arterial pH
- Paco2:
-
arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide
- Pao2:
-
arterial partial pressure of oxygen
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Acknowledgements
We thank Professor A.L. Fowden for her continued support with our studies, Mr. Paul Hughes and Mr. Scott Gentle for their help during surgery, Mrs. Sue Nicholls and Miss Victoria Johnson for the routine care of the animals used in this study, and Mr. Malcolm Bloomfield for the radioimmunoassays.
This article is dedicated to Dr. Andrew J.W. Fletcher. Andy was a promising young doctor and an excellent scientist, who died suddenly, at the age of 33, after finishing a charity run in Norfolk in 2008.
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Giussani, D., Fletcher, A. & Gardner, D. Sex Differences in the Ovine Fetal Cortisol Response to Stress. Pediatr Res 69, 118–122 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182042a20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182042a20
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