Estrogen and progesterone metabolism in the cervix during pregnancy and parturition.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Experimental and clinical studies in a variety of nonprimate species demonstrate that progesterone withdrawal leads to changes in gene expression that initiate parturition at term. Mice deficient in 5alpha-reductase type I fail to undergo cervical ripening at term despite the timely onset of luteolysis and progesterone withdrawal in blood.

Objective

Our objective was to test the hypothesis that estrogen and progesterone metabolism is regulated in cervical tissues during pregnancy, even in species in which parturition is not characterized by progesterone withdrawal in blood.

Design

Estradiol and progesterone metabolism was quantified in intact cervical tissues from nonpregnant and pregnant women at term before or after labor.

Setting

The study was conduc

SUBMITTER: Andersson S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2435631 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature