Metabolic Activity of Oxytocin in the Puerperium

MORE than half a century has elapsed since Sir Henry Dale first described the oxytocic activity of posterior pituitary extracts 1 . Since that time the biological effects of the oxytocic principle have been widely investigated and well established 2 . Moreover, oxytocin, vasopressin, and their analo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1963-04, Vol.198 (4877), p.293-293
Main Authors: BURT, RICHARD L, LEAKE, NORMAN H, DANNENBURG, WARREN N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blood Glucose
Fatty Acids
Female
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
letter
multidisciplinary
Old Medline
Oxytocin
Postpartum Period
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:MORE than half a century has elapsed since Sir Henry Dale first described the oxytocic activity of posterior pituitary extracts 1 . Since that time the biological effects of the oxytocic principle have been widely investigated and well established 2 . Moreover, oxytocin, vasopressin, and their analogues have been characterized chemically and prepared synthetically 3 . Despite almost universal use of posterior pituitary preparations in clinical obstetrics few investigations have been directed toward the metabolic effects of either natural or synthetic oxytocin. Consequently, the preliminary observations presented here are of interest because they show pronounced changes in blood sugar and plasma non-esterified fatty acids after administration of oxytocin to puerperal women.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/198293a0