Role for glucagon as a mineralocorticoid antagonist during the fetal-perinatal period

Abstract

The progressive decrease in total body water (TBW) and sodium during the fetal-perinatal period; the normally noted 5–10 per cent largely water weight loss noted in term infants during the first 3–4 days postnatally; and, the even greater TBW and sodium losses incurred by premature infants during the initial post-natal week may, in part, be secondary to a glucagon-mediated, renal distal tubular hyporesponsiveness to aldosterone.