title: Heart rate and salivary cortisol concentrations in foals at birth.
abstract: Heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV) and salivary cortisol concentrations were determined in foals (n = 13) during the perinatal phase and until 5 months of age. In the fetus, HR decreased from 77 ± 3 beats/min at 120 min before birth to 60 ± 1 beats/min at 5 min before birth (P <0.01). Within 30 min of birth, HR increased to 160 ± 9 beats/min (P <0.01). Salivary cortisol concentrations immediately after birth were 11.9 ± 3.6 ng/mL and within 2 h increased to a maximum of 52.5 ± 12.3 ng/mL (P <0.01). In conclusion, increases in HR and salivary cortisol concentrations in foals are not induced during parturition, but occur immediately after birth.
authors.affiliation: Graf Lehndorff Institute for Equine Science, Vienna University of Veterinary Sciences, Neustadt (Dosse) 16845, Germany. Electronic address: Christina.Nagel@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.affiliation: Artificial Insemination and Embryo Transfer, University of Veterinary Sciences, Vienna 1210, Austria.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erber
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Veterinary Sciences, Vienna 1210, Austria.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ille
authors.affiliation: Graf Lehndorff Institute for Equine Science, Vienna University of Veterinary Sciences, Neustadt (Dosse) 16845, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wulf
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Veterinary Sciences, Vienna 1210, Austria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aurich
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Sciences, Vienna 1210, Austria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Möstl
authors.affiliation: Artificial Insemination and Embryo Transfer, University of Veterinary Sciences, Vienna 1210, Austria.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aurich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D036801:Parturition; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Equine; Foals; Heart rate; Parturition; Salivary cortisol