Endocrine Abstracts

Prolonged increases in foetal plasma noradrenaline occur in pathologies, including intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Infusion of noradrenaline into healthy sheep foetuses showed continuous suppression of insulin secretion but produced a compensatory beta-cell response after noradrenaline infusion was terminated, similar to findings with adrenergic antagonists in IUGR foetuses. Hyper-insulin secretion responsiveness was confirmed in isolated foetal islets. To identify mol...