Extracellular glutamate levels and neuropathology in cerebral white matter following repeated umbilical cord occlusion in the near term fetal sheep

Abstract

Umbilical cord occlusion causes fetal hypoxemia which can result in brain injury including damage to cerebral white matter. Excessive glutamate release may be involved in the damage process. This study examined the relation between extracellular glutamate levels in the cerebral white matter of the ovine fetus during and after intermittent umbilical cord occlusion and the degree of resultant fetal brain injury. Fetal sheep underwent surgery for chronic catheterisation and implantation of an intra-cerebral microdialysis probe at 130 days of gestation (term ∼147 days). Four days after surgery (day 1), seven fetuses were subjected to 5×2 min umbilical cord occlusions, and on the following day (d..