PROTEIN BINDING OF PLASMA CORTISOL IN THE FOETAL LAMB NEAR TERM

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Binding of cortisol to plasma proteins was studied in the foetal lamb by equilibrium dialysis at 37 °C. At 122 days of pregnancy the mean level of transcortin expressed as cortisolbinding capacity was 28 ± 6 (s.d.) ng cortisol/ml plasma. During the last 14 days of pregnancy there was a progressive increase in transcortin-binding capacity to 85 ± 14 ng cortisol/ ml plasma. A sharp increase in the concentration of both protein-bound and unbound cortisol was observed over the same period. A rise in the concentration of total cortisol from around 3 to 42 ng/ml was associated with an increase in unbound cortisol from 0·2 to a maximum of 2·1 ng/ml. The concentration of albumin-bound cortisol was approximately equal to that of unbound cortisol. The mean value for the transcortin–cortisol affinity constant was 1·15 × 108 l/mol. It is concluded that an increase in transcortin-binding capacity is partly responsible for the prepartum increase of corticosteroid levels observed in normal foetal lambs.