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Science 12 March 1982:
Vol. 215. no. 4538, pp. 1396 - 1398
DOI: 10.1126/science.6278592
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Articles

Science, Vol 215, Issue 4538, 1396-1398
Copyright © 1982 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Oxytocin receptors and human parturition: a dual role for oxytocin in the initiation of labor

AR Fuchs, F Fuchs, P Husslein, MS Soloff, and MJ Fernstrom

The concentration of oxytocin receptors increased in the myometrium of pregnant women and reached maximum levels in early labor. Concentrations of oxytocin receptors were also high in the decidua and reached a maximum at parturition. In vitro, prostaglandin production by the decidua, but not by the myometrium, was increased by the addition of oxytocin. Oxytocin may therefore stimulate uterine contractions by acting both directly on the myometrium and indirectly on decidual prostaglandin production. Oxytocin receptors are probably crucial for the onset of human labor, and the stimulus for the increase in uterine prostaglandins may be oxytocin originating from the fetus.


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