Progesterone withdrawal: key to parturition

Whereas the essential role of progesterone in the maintenance of pregnancy is accepted generally, the mechanisms that suppress progesterone’s function near term to allow labor and delivery of the conceptus are still shrouded in uncertainty. In most subprimate placental mammals, the withdrawal of pro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2007-04, Vol.196 (4), p.289-296
Main Authors: Zakar, Tamas, MD, PhD, Hertelendy, Frank, PhD, DSc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biomarkers - metabolism
Female
Mifepristone - pharmacology
Myometrium - drug effects
Myometrium - metabolism
Obstetrics and Gynecology
parturition
Parturition - drug effects
Parturition - physiology
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Animal
Progesterone - antagonists & inhibitors
Progesterone - metabolism
progesterone receptor
progesterone withdrawal
Rabbits
Rats
Receptors, Progesterone - metabolism
Sensitivity and Specificity
Sheep
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Whereas the essential role of progesterone in the maintenance of pregnancy is accepted generally, the mechanisms that suppress progesterone’s function near term to allow labor and delivery of the conceptus are still shrouded in uncertainty. In most subprimate placental mammals, the withdrawal of progesterone before the initiation of labor is manifest by a significant drop in circulating progesterone levels, which is due to either luteolysis or changes in placental steroidogenesis, which shunts precursors towards estrogen production. No such events can be demonstrated in human pregnancy. In this review, we shall present a brief historic background of the research that led to the concepts of “progesterone block” and its withdrawal, based on experiments with rabbits and laboratory rodents, and discuss some of the more recent ideas about “functional progesterone withdrawal,” in an attempt to bridge the apparent differences between the regulation of parturition in human and subprimate mammals.
ISSN:0002-9378
1097-6868
DOI:10.1016/j.ajog.2006.09.005