The Effect of Acupuncture on Uterine Contraction Induced by Oxytocin

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (01) ◽  
pp. 35-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sok Cheon Pak ◽  
Chang Su Na ◽  
Jeong Sang Kim ◽  
Woo Suk Chae ◽  
Seiji Kamiya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fetal Mortality ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Uterine Contractions ◽  
Oxytocin Antagonists ◽  
Pressure Changes ◽  
Oxytocin Antagonist ◽  
Methods Of Treatment ◽  
Positive Results

Pretern labor (PTL) is one of the main causes of fetal mortality and morbidity in obstetrical medicine. Current methods of treatment are not very effective and often have significant side effects. For this reason new methods of preventing PTL are currently being sought. In Western medicine the newest development is oxytocin antagonists. In Oriental medicine acupuncture and moxibustion are being utilized for the purpose of stopping PTL. The goals of this study were to determine if acupuncture in pregnant rats can suppress oxytocin induced uterine contractions and to compare these results with those inhibited by an oxytocin antagonist. Uterine contractions were induced by continuous infusion of exogenous oxytocin. The first fetus in one uterine horn near the ovarian end was removed and distilled water-filled catheter was inserted into that vacated amniotic sac to measure uterine contractions as intrauterine pressure changes. Two acupoints of Ho-Ku (LI-4) and San-Yin-Chiao (Sp-6) were selected for acupuncture and Kuan-Yüan (Co-4) was used for moxibustion. The oxytocin-induced uterine contractions were significantly suppressed by acupuncture on the LI-4 (p < 0.05), but not by Sp-6. Stimulation of Co-4 by moxibustion had no significant (p > 0.05) tocolytic effect. The administration of oxytocin antagonist eliminated all the uterine contractions induced by oxytocin. The application of acupuncture to re-stimulate the activity that was suppressed by the oxytocin antagonist did not produce any positive results. However, prostaglandins did cause the uterus to contract. In conclusion, acupuncture on LI-4 was found to suppress uterine contractions induced by oxytocin in the pregnant rat. If acupuncture is similarly effective in counteracting the effects of oxytocin in women, then this may an alternative medical treatment for women in preterm labor.

Fluprostenol-induced softening of the cervix of the pregnant rat

1983 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Williams ◽  
M. Hollingsworth ◽  
M. Dukes ◽  
I. D. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Binding Capacity ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Prostaglandin E ◽  
Uterine Contractility ◽  
Serum Progesterone ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Uterine Contractions ◽  
Prostaglandin F

Fluprostenol, an analogue of prostaglandin F2α, administered s.c. to rats on day 18 of pregnancy increased cervical creep, or softness, by the following day. Doses of fluprostenol 100-fold larger were necessary to increase uterine contractions. Fluprostenol produced falls in serum progesterone concentrations, increases in 20α-dihydroprogesterone concentrations, no changes in oestradiol or relaxin concentrations and a reduction in the ovarian human chorionic gonadotrophin binding capacity in vitro. Fluprostenol was less potent in inducing cervical softness when administered per vaginam, and a dose which produced softening in pregnant rats was ineffective in ovariectomized steroid-maintained pregnant or pro-oestrous rats. The findings suggest that cervical softening by fluprostenol does not result from a simple direct action on the cervix or by increasing uterine contractions, but rather by an indirect hormonal action mediated by the ovaries. The results with the lowest dose of fluprostenol indicate that cervical softening could be produced without a sustained fall in serum progesterone concentrations. Fluprostenol is much more potent at increasing cervical softness in the pregnant rat than prostaglandin F2α or prostaglandin E2. With fluprostenol the ratio of dose to induce uterine contractility relative to that to produce cervical softness was greater than with these natural prostaglandins, indicating the greater selectivity of fluprostenol in the pregnant rat.

PLASMA PROLACTIN AND PROGESTERONE RESPONSES TO MATING ARE ALTERED IN AGED RATS

1981 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. HENDRICKS ◽  
C. A. BLAKE
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
External Jugular Vein ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Plasma Prolactin ◽  
Aged Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Plasma Progesterone ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right

The effects of varying amounts of copulatory stimulation on patterns of plasma concentrations of prolactin and progesterone were evaluated in 3- and 12-month-old female rats. The 12-month-old group included rats which still exhibited oestrous cycles and rats in persistent vaginal oestrus (PVO). The extent of copulatory stimulation was defined by the number of intromissions received during mating: ≤5,15 or > 50. Blood samples were drawn over the 8 days after mating through a cannula inserted into the right external jugular vein. Plasma from the samples was assayed for prolactin and progesterone. In aged but still cyclic rats, pregnancy rates were positively correlated with the number of intromissions received during mating. Only one rat in PVO became pregnant. All animals which became pregnant and rats in PVO which, after mating, exhibited a disruption of the pattern of PVO, showed the nocturnal surge of plasma prolactin characteristic of pregnant and pseudopregnant rats. While these surges persisted until day 8 after mating in pregnant animals, they were absent by this time in the rats in PVO. Prolactin surges were present in some but not all of the aged rats which did not become pregnant. Progesterone concentrations were raised in all pregnant animals except the one pregnant rat in PVO and, while not related to the number of intromissions, concentrations were higher 8 days after mating in young compared with those in aged pregnant rats. Plasma progesterone was low in rats in PVO regardless of disruption of the pattern of PVO. We have concluded that the failure of limited copulatory stimulation to induce pregnancy in older rats results, at least in part, from its failure to initiate nocturnal prolactin surges. Nevertheless, our data suggest that matings which are not experimentally limited should provide ample stimulation to establish such surges. Although reduced plasma concentrations of prolactin and progesterone at pro-oestrus and reduced plasma progesterone through part of gestation may contribute to decreasing fertility in aged rats, other unidentified factors appear to be involved in mediating the capacity of extensive copulatory stimulation to induce pregnancy in these animals.

Glucose uptake and oxidation in fat cells of trained and sedentary pregnant rats

1986 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1704-1709 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. W. Craig ◽  
J. Treadway
Keyword(s):  
Glucose Uptake ◽  
Exercise Program ◽  
Cell Number ◽  
Fat Cells ◽  
Sedentary Control ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Fed State ◽  
Exercise Period ◽  
Fat Pads

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between an exercise program and fetal development to determine whether training could influence insulin sensitivity in the pregnant rat. Prior to impregnation one group of animals was exercise trained on a Quinton shock-stimulus rodent treadmill. The exercised group was trained to run 5 days/wk, for 2.0 h/day at 31 m/min up an 8 degree incline for 8 wk before mating. Following mating the training intensity was reduced to 27 m/min up a 5 degree incline, and the exercise period decreased to 1 h/day. On day 19 of gestation, 24 h postexercise for the trained mothers, the animals were killed in the fed state and the parametrial fat pads were removed. The parametrial depot of the trained mother was smaller than the sedentary control dam. This was due to a change in cell size and did not involve alterations in cell number. Isolated adipocytes of the parametrial fat pads were used to measure the rates of 2-deoxy-D-[3H]glucose uptake and D-[1–14C]glucose oxidation to 14CO2. The results indicated that the adipocytes from the dam trained prior to and during pregnancy were significantly (P less than 0.05) more responsive to insulin than those of animals remaining sedentary during the same period. At the maximal insulin concentration tested, the fat cells from trained mothers were able to take up and metabolize approximately twice as much glucose as the sedentary control dams. However, the increase in insulin responsiveness induced by the training program did not match the changes observed in trained nonpregnant rats of prior investigations.

MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE ENDOCRINE PANCREAS IN PREGNANT RATS WITH EXPERIMENTAL DIABETES

1979 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. VAN ASSCHE ◽  
L. AERTS ◽  
W. GEPTS
Keyword(s):  
Endocrine Pancreas ◽  
Experimental Diabetes ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Normal Pregnancy ◽  
Β Cells ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Human Pregnancy ◽  
The Individual

This present study has demonstrated that during normal pregnancy in the rat the number of β-cells is increased (hyperplasia) and the volume of the individual β-cells is increased (hypertrophy). During experimental diabetes, however, the endocrine pancreas has an impaired capacity to compensate during pregnancy. In the experimental diabetic pregnant rat the β-cells cannot replicate due to the unfavourable metabolic environment. This could reflect the complications caused by diabetes during human pregnancy.

scholarly journals Perinatal Findings in Pregnancy Induced Hypertension: A Study in a Tertiary Teaching Hospital in Dhaka City

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
Zobaida Sultana Susan ◽  
Surayea Bulbul ◽  
Jannat Ara Ferdows ◽  
Abu Nayeem
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Fetal Mortality ◽  
Pregnancy Induced Hypertension ◽  
College Hospital ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Tertiary Teaching ◽  
Induced Hypertension ◽  
Questionnaire Result ◽  
In Pregnancy

Background: Hypertensive disorders are common complication occurring during pregnancy which are responsible for maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to determine the perinatal outcome in pregnancy induced hypertension. Methodology: This study was designed as cross-sectional study and was conducted from April 2013 to September 2013 for a period of six (06) moths. Patients admitted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Shaheed SuhrawardyMedical College Hospital, Dhaka. Data were collected by interview, physical examintions (blood pressure, pulse rate, oedema, heart and lungs auscultation) and lab investigations using a structural questionnaire. Result: Majority of the women belonged to age group 21-25 year. Maximum were (56%) primigravida. The mean gestational age was 34.6 weeks with the range from 28 to 40 weeks. Hyperurecaemia was frequent among patients with pregnancy induced hypertension. Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was secondary to pregnancy induced hypertension which was associated with significantly increased perinatalmortality. Conclusion: In this study, prematurity is frequent in pregnancy induced hypertension and convulsion in nonresponsive patients is associated with significantly increased perinatal mortality.Journal of National Institute of Neurosciences Bangladesh, January 2016;2(1): 10-13

Production rate, metabolic clearance rate and blood concentration of progesterone in conscious and anaesthetized pregnant rats

1984 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Waddell ◽  
N. W. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Production Rate ◽  
Clearance Rate ◽  
Blood Concentration ◽  
Constant Infusion ◽  
Metabolic Clearance ◽  
Metabolic Clearance Rate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Anaesthetized Rats

ABSTRACT Both production rate and metabolic clearance rate (MCR) of progesterone may vary rapidly and so effect short-term changes in blood concentration of the hormone. Here, a constant infusion and sampling technique was used to estimate these three characteristics of progesterone metabolism in seven conscious and ten anaesthetized rats on day 16 of pregnancy. After steady state was achieved, four samples were collected during a 1-h period from each rat. Mean values for production rate and MCR of progesterone in conscious rats were 14·0 ±1·4 μmol/day and 63·2 ± 6·2 litres/day respectively. Both values were substantially reduced in anaesthetized rats (8.6 ±0·8 μmol/ day and 39·4± 3·4 litres/day respectively) and so blood concentration was unchanged. The production rate was positively related to the total mass of luteal tissue (common correlation coefficient, r = 0·61, P <0·05). There were no consistent changes in the three characteristics with time but variation within rats was high. The estimated coefficients of variation for production rate, MCR and blood concentration within rats were 26, 18 and 17% in conscious and 27, 20 and 23% in anaesthetized rats respectively. Short-term changes in production rate and MCR generally were in the same direction (P <0·05). This reduced variation in blood concentration which would otherwise have occurred if production rate and MCR were unrelated. The pregnant rat is clearly capable of rapid shifts in production rate, MCR and blood concentration of progesterone and the positive relationship between production rate and MCR has a homeostatic effect on blood concentration. J. Endocr. (1984) 102, 357–363

scholarly journals The expression of transforming growth factor β in pregnant rat myometrium is hormone and stretch dependent

Reproduction ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Shynlova ◽  
Prudence Tsui ◽  
Anna Dorogin ◽  
B Lowell Langille ◽  
Stephen J Lye
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Quiescent State ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Threefold Increase ◽  
Antagonist Ru486

From a quiescent state in early pregnancy to a highly contractile state in labor, the myometrium displays tremendous growth and remodeling. We hypothesize that the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) system is involved in the differentiation of pregnant myometrium throughout gestation and labor. Furthermore, we propose that during pregnancy the mechanical and hormonal stimuli play a role in regulating myometrial TGFβs. The expression of TGFβ1-3 mRNAs and proteins was examined by real-time PCR, Western immunoblot, and localized with immunohistochemistry in the rat uterus throughout pregnancy and labor. Tgfβ1-3 genes were expressed differentially in pregnant myometrium. Tgfβ2 gene was not affected by pregnancy, whereas the Tgfβ1 gene showed a threefold increase during the second half of gestation. In contrast, we observed a dramatic bimodal change in Tgfβ3 gene expression throughout pregnancy. Tgfβ3 mRNA levels first transiently increased at mid-gestation (11-fold on day 14) and later at term (45-fold at labor, day 23). Protein expression levels paralleled the changes in mRNA. Treatment of pregnant rats with the progesterone (P4) receptor antagonist RU486 induced premature labor on day 19 and increased Tgfβ3 mRNA, whereas artificial maintenance of elevated P4 levels at late gestation (days 20–23) caused a significant decrease in the expression of Tgfβ3 gene. In addition, Tgfβ3 was up-regulated specifically in the gravid horn of unilaterally pregnant rats subjected to a passive biological stretch imposed by the growing fetuses, but not in the empty horn. Collectively, these data indicate that the TGFβ family contributes in the regulation of myometrial activation at term integrating mechanical and endocrine signals for successful labor contraction.

Abstract 66: Ascorbate Prevents Hypertension, Proteinuria and Concentric Hypertrophy by Balancing the Nitroso-redox System in a Model of Preeclampsia, the S-nitrosoglutathione Reductase (gsnor) Deficient Mice

2016 ◽  
Vol 119 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shathiyah Kulandavelu ◽  
Raul A Dulce ◽  
Rosemeire K Takeuchi ◽  
Wayne Balkan ◽  
Joshua M Hare
Keyword(s):  
Nitrosative Stress ◽  
Fluorescent Dyes ◽  
Protein S ◽  
Redox System ◽  
Fetal Mortality ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Redox Imbalance ◽  
Concentric Hypertrophy ◽  
Maternal Hypertension ◽  
And Control

Introduction: Preeclampsia (PE), a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity, is characterized by increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and S-nitrosylated protein, and decreased levels of the antioxidant, ascorbate (Asc). Mice lacking S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR –/– ), a denitrosylase that regulates protein S-nitrosylation, exhibit a PE-like phenotype including maternal hypertension, proteinuria, cardiac concentric hypertrophy and impaired placental vascularization. We hypothesize that the PE-like phenotype is mediated by nitroso-redox imbalance and nitrosative stress and can be rescued with ascorbate treatment. Methods: Pregnant GSNOR –/– and control (WT) mice (n=5-7) were provided drinking water ± Asc beginning at day 0.5 of gestation (E0.5). We determined blood pressure using a Millar catheter, relative wall thickness (RWT) by echocardiography, and placental vascularization by isolectin staining. Cardiomyocytes (CM) were isolated at late stage pregnancy (E17.5) and fluorescent dyes used to determine levels of ROS (2’7’-dichlorofluorescein), nitric oxide (NO, diaminofluorescin) and peroxynitrite (dihydrorhodamine 123). Results: Isolated CMs from pregnant GSNOR –/– hearts, exhibited elevated levels of ROS (2.48±0.39 vs. 1.58±0.18 ΔF/F 0 ), free NO (6.65±0.43 vs. 5.59±0.26 ΔF/F 0 ) and peroxynitrite (0.75±0.04 vs. 0.39±0.03 ΔF/F 0 ) compared to WT. These increases were prevented with Asc treatment (P<0.01), which completely rescued the PE phenotype in GSNOR –/– mothers, including hypertension (105±2 mmHg vs. 95± mmHg in Asc-treated, P<0.05), proteinuria (P<0.05) and RWT (0.56±0.04 vs. 0.45±0.03 in Asc-treated (P<0.05). Placental vascularization was also significantly improved with Asc treatment in GSNOR –/– mothers. Asc had no significant effect in WT mice. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that nitroso-redox imbalance and nitrosative stress contributes to PE in mice. Asc treatment balanced the nitroso-redox system and rescued the pathological phenotypes in GSNOR –/– mice, suggesting that it can be used therapeutically to treat or prevent preeclampsia.

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