Diabetes is associated with impairment of uterine contractility and high Caesarean section rate.

ABSTRACT:

Aims/hypothesis

The prevalence of births worldwide complicated by diabetes mellitus is increasing. In the UK, for example, <25% of diabetic women have a non-instrumental vaginal delivery. Strikingly, more than half the Caesarean sections (CS) in these patients are non-elective, but the reasons for this are not understood. We have tested the hypothesis that poor myometrial contractility as a consequence of the disease contributes to this high CS rate.

Methods

We compared spontaneous, high K depolarisation and oxytocin-induced contractions from diabetic and matched control patients having an elective CS. To investigate the mechanism of any differences we measured intracellular Ca, and performed western blotting and compared the tissues histologically.

Results

There was

SUBMITTER: Al-Qahtani S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3245824 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature