Abstract
Summary: Saline or triiodothyronine (T3) (50-1000 μg) was injected into the amniotic sac of 17 pregnant ewes under general anesthesia at 130 days gestation. Forty-eight h later, the lambs were delivered by hysterotomy. Cord plasma T3 and cortisol and amniotic fluid T3 were assayed, and the maturity of the fetal lung was assessed in terms of its pressure-volume response and its surfactant (lamellar body phospholipid) content. With the highest dose of T3, cord plasma T3 and cortisol were raised, and lung maturity was enhanced compared with saline-treated controls; the pressure-volume curve showed increased hysteresis on inflation and deflation, and the lung retained air on return to zero pressure. There was also an apparent, but not statistically significant, increase in the lamellar body phospholipid content of the lung. Irrespective of treatment, lungs which were more mature, in terms of their pressure-volume characteristics, tended to contain a higher proportion of lamellar body phospholipid relative to total phospholipid.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Korda, A., Fleming, S., Senior, C. et al. The Effect of Intra-amniotic Injection of Triiodothyronine on Pulmonary Maturity in Lambs at 130 Days Gestation. Pediatr Res 18, 932–935 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198410000-00004
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198410000-00004
This article is cited by
-
The Effects of Early Parenteral Amino Acids on Sick Premature Infants
The Indian Journal of Pediatrics (2010)