Key result
During the first 6 weeks of life in kittens, mean arterial pressure and pulse pressure double, and the vasomotor sympathetic system becomes active within 4 days of birth but does not reach adult levels.
This preclinical study demonstrates that cardiovascular reflex mechanisms and sympathetic vasomotor activity develop early in neonatal kittens but take more than 6 weeks to reach adult levels.
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Early sympathetic maturation in kittens informs neonatal BP models; leaves open human translational validation.
In anæsthetized kittens the mean arterial pressure and the pulse pressure double during the first 6 weeks of life; the heart rates recorded were the same as in the adult cat and did not change during this period. The vasomotor sympathetic system was active within 4 days of birth: there was both tonic activity, as demonstrated by a rise in arterial pressure after carotid occlusion, and a rise in pressure during asphyxia; the carotid sinus‐cardiac centre mechanism responded to a rise in arterial pressure at birth. All these responses increased with age but had not reached adult activity by the 6th week of life. The carotid sinus‐cardiac centre mechanism did not respond to a fall in blood pressure until 4 weeks of age. The infant heart was apparently more sensitive to the direct action of acetylcholine and the peripheral blood vessels relatively less sensitive than in the adult.
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Hutchinson et al. (1962) studied Normal cardiovascular development. Development (Age) vs. Adult cat was evaluated on Cardiovascular responses (mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, heart rate, vasomotor sympathetic system activity). During the first 6 weeks of life in kittens, mean arterial pressure and pulse pressure double, and the vasomotor sympathetic system becomes active within 4 days of birth but does not reach adult levels.
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