Transplacental clearance and blood flows of bovine gravid uterus at several stages of gestation

Abstract

Rates of uterine and umbilical blood flows and transplacental clearance of deuterium oxide (D2O) were determined for cows on 137 +/- 1.0 (SE, n = 9), 180 +/- 0.5 (n = 8), 226 +/- 0.4 (n = 9), and 250 +/- 1.8 (n = 5) days of gestation. From days 137 to 250, rates increased 4.5-fold for uterine blood flow, 21-fold for umbilical blood flow, and 14-fold for clearance of D2O. Changes in rates of umbilical blood flow and D2O clearance paralleled increased rates of fetal growth and metabolism, which have previously been reported to occur during the last half of gestation. The regressions of D2O clearance on uterine and umbilical blood flows were significant (P less than 0.01) and explained 94-99% of the variation in placental clearance of D2O. Because the rate of D2O clearance was always less than that of uterine and umbilical blood flows, and because a relatively simple statistical model explained most of the variation in clearance, it was suggested that a concurrent or countercurrent arrangement of maternal and fetal placental microvasculatures is not adequate to explain clearance of highly diffusable substances across the bovine placenta. In addition, a placental exchange diagram of the data showed the existence of severe uneven distribution of maternal and fetal placental blood flows and/or significant shunting of maternal and fetal placental flows away from areas of exchange. Taken together, these data indicate that the placenta of the cow, like those of the sheep and goat, represents a relatively inefficient system of transplacental exchange.