Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T22:49:43.545Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thyroxine concentration in maternal and foetal plasma during pregnancy in Australian feral goats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

B. J. McDonald ,
D. C. Stocks ,
J. A. Connell  and
W. A. Hoey
B. J. McDonald
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Animal Research Institute, Yeerongpilly, Queensland 4105, Australia
D. C. Stocks
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Animal Research Institute, Yeerongpilly, Queensland 4105, Australia
J. A. Connell
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Animal Research Institute, Yeerongpilly, Queensland 4105, Australia
W. A. Hoey
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Animal Research Institute, Yeerongpilly, Queensland 4105, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Gestational age-related changes in plasma free thyroxine (FT4) concentration in maternal and foetal goats were determined for 65–140 days of pregnancy. The placental permeability to maternal thyroxine (T4) and iodine (I) during the last trimester of pregnancy was evaluated.

The presence of T4 in foetal circulation at 65 days' gestation, the absence of a significant correlation between maternal and foetal levels and the absence of any transplacental diffusion of 125I–T4 showed autonomous foetal thyroid function during pregnancy in goats. Significantly low maternal FT4 was measured at 95 and 110 days' gestation (32·7 and 31·5 pmol/1 respectively). Plasma concentration increased to 48·6 pmol/1 at day 125 then fell before parturition to a level similar to that of non-pregnant goats (41·9 pmol/1). In contrast, foetal FT4 increased with gestational age to 110 and 125 days when levels of 64·0 and 59·1 pmol/1 respectively were greater than those at all other ages, suggesting that the foetal hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid is functioning at a higher rate than the maternal system around this time. This was supported by increased foetal thyroid affinity for I when compared with the maternal thyroid at 110–140 days' gestation.

A significant cubic relationship between foetal FT4 and gestational age was established.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 110 , Issue 1 , February 1988 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, C. M., Warner, D. E., Marks, S. & Bustad, L. K. (1957). Thyroid function in fetal sheep. Endocrinology 60, 325–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dussault, J. H., Hobel, C. J., Distefano, J. J., Erenberg, A. & Fisher, D. A. (1972). Triiodothyronine turnover in maternal and fetal sheep. Endocrinology 90, 1301–1308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dussault, J. H., Hobel, C. J. & Fisher, D. A. (1971). Maternal and fetal thyroxine secretion during pregnancy in the sheep. Endocrinology 88, 47–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, D. A., Dussault, J. H., Erenburg, A. & Lam, R. W. (1972). Thyroxine and triiodothyronine metabolism in maternal and foetal sheep. Pediatric Research 6, 894–899.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, D. A., Hobel, C. J., Garza, R. & Pierce, C. A. (1970). Thyroid function in the preterm fetus. Pediatrics 46 (2), 208–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, D. A., Morris, M. D., Lehman, H. & Lackey, C. (1964). Studies of the butanol-extractable iodine technique by the eerie oxidation method. Analytical Biochemistry 7, 37–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, P. S. & Thorburn, G. D. (1971 a). Placental permeability to maternal thyroxine in the sheep. Journal of Endocrinology 49, 549–550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hopkins, P. S. & Thorburn, G. D. (1971 b). Plasma thyroxine and cortisol concentrations of the foetal lamb. Proceedings of the Fourth Asia Oceania Congress Endocrinology, Auckland, New Zealand. Abstract no. 170.Google Scholar
Klein, A. H., Oddie, T. H. & Fisher, D. A. (1978). Effect of parturition on serum iodothyronine concentrations in fetal sheep. Endocrinology 103, 1453–1457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Health and Medical Research Council, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation & Australian Agricultural Council (1985). Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Experimental Purposes. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Riis, P. M. & Madsen, A. (1985). Thyroxine concentrations and secretion rates in relation to pregnancy, lactation and energy balance in goats. Journal of Endocrinology 107, 421–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepard, T. H. (1967). Onset of function in the human fetal thyroid: biochemical and radioautographic studies from organ culture. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology 27, 945–958.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed