We have measured plasma melatonin (MT) concentrations in the pregnant ewe and fetal sheep during 24-h periods between 114 and 142 days gestation. There was a clear diurnal rhythm in the plasma MT concentrations in both the ewe and fetus from 114 days gestation. Blood samples were also collected from the pregnant ewe and fetus during the day every 2-3 days from 112 days gestation to term. There was no gestational age trend in maternal or fetal day time plasma MT concentrations during late pregnancy. To establish whether there was transplacental transfer of MT, pregnant ewes were injected with [3H]MT, and total radioactivity (disintegrations per min) was measured in maternal and fetal arterial plasma and in amniotic fluid collected before and for 1 h after the [3H]MT injection. Two minutes after [3H]MT injection, radioactivity was detected in both maternal and fetal sheep plasma. Extraction of fetal plasma with chloroform indicated that [3H]MT accounted for 48.0 +/- 7.2 (SE) % of total radioactivity at 2 min after the injection. In one pregnant ewe infused with unlabeled MT (0.3 microgram/ml saline.min for 20 min) maternal and fetal plasma MT concentrations increased within 6 min after the start of the MT infusion. We conclude that there is a diurnal rhythm in the plasma concentrations of MT in the fetal lamb and pregnant ewe between 114 and 142 days gestation, and that MT crosses the ovine placenta from the maternal to the fetal circulation. Therefore, the MT present in the fetal sheep circulation may be solely of maternal origin or it may be derived from both fetal and maternal sources.

Maternal creatine is altered by pregnancy; fetal growth measures are associated with maternal creatine concentrations.

Animals that are immature at birth with respect to postural and locomotor control (e.g. cats, rats) possess incompletely differentiated 'fast-twitch' and 'slow-twitch' muscles at birth; full development proceeds slowly in the postnatal period and involves myogenic, hormonal, neural and behavioural factors. The gradual emergence of specific motor patterns and the exercise of individual muscle groups is thought to play a major role in the final development of each muscle and the fibre types which comprise them. In contrast, precocial species such as the sheep are born with skeletal muscles, especially those of the limbs, which are fully differentiated at birth. The relative importance of neural and hormonal factors in allowing this functional specialization to occur in the presumed absence of significant load-bearing exercise in the intrauterine environment is unclear. In this brief review, the changes which occur in contractile function and fibre type differentiation during the last one-third of gestation in fetal sheep are described, and some of the factors which influence this development are considered.

SUMMARYHeat stress during pregnancy in sheep is associated with respiratory alkalosis in both the mother and fetus, and, if prolonged, fetal growth is retarded. In seven pregnant sheep at 130-137 days gestation we used 15 ,um diameter radioactive microspheres to determine the effect of raising the environmental temperature from 20 to 43°C for 8 h on uteroplacental blood flows and the distribution of cardiac output in the ewe and fetus. Fetal cardiac output increased slightly from 47.0 + 3.2 (mean + S.E.M.) to 54.0 + 3-6 ml min-' (100 g tissue)-', fetal arterial pressure and heart rate were unchanged, and total vascular conductance in the fetus increased significantly from 12397 + 1111 to 14732 + 1569 ml min-kg-mmHg-' (P <0.01). Tissue blood flows (in ml min-' (100 g)-1) increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the fetal body (e.g. nasal mucosa, torso and foreleg skin, adrenal, thyroid and thymus glands, brown and omental fats, heart, urinary bladder and carcass) and the fetal brain (e.g. cerebellum, cerebral grey matter, cervical spinal cord and pituitary gland). These regional vasodilatations occurred despite a significant fall (P < 0-01) in fetal arterial 02 saturation (55.2 + 1-8 vs. 38-6 ± 2.4 %), Po2 (18.1 + 0-7 vs. 13.5 + 0.8 mmHg) and PCO2 (51.0 + 1-8 vs. 36-1 + 2-3 mmHg); under normothermic conditions hypoxia is associated with peripheral vasoconstriction. Because hypocapnia would also be expected to cause cerebral vasoconstriction it is suggested that during hyperthermia, hypoxia-and hypocapnia-induced vasoconstrictions are reduced by the release of vasodilator substances, or a decrease of sympathoadrenal effector responses. Blood flow to the fetal and maternal sides of the placenta did not change during the heat stress, suggesting that perfusion-dependent transfer of heat from fetus to mother across the placenta does not increase under hyperthermic conditions.