Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It has been known for years that prostaglandins can be used to bring on labor. The authors experienced with alpha PGF2 by extraamiotic, intracavitary infusion. The group of 23 patients included 20 cases of incomplete abortion in the second trimester, 9 cases of intrauterine fetal death in the third trimester, and 1 case of vesicular mole. This method proved 82.6% successful: in 56.9% of cases the product of conception was expelled within 12 hours; in 26.5% of cases within 24 hours. Only in 4 cases, 17.4%, this method proved unsuccessful; oxytocin was used in 3 of these 4 cases. Hypertonia was evident immediately after infusion; uterine contractions, measured and registered with a tocograph, were frequent and increasingly intense. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were observed in 26.5% of cases; 1 patient had facial flush. These side effects were probably due to the low absorption of the drug into the circulation. Results obtained confirm others described in the literature on the subject.
 ...
PMID:[Induction of labor in missed abortion, fetal death and vesicular mole, using PGF2 alpha by extra-amniotic intracavitary administration]. 60 2

The effects of prostaglandin F2 alpha on uterine contractility were compared with the effects of oxytocin and ergometrine. All patients had an intrauterine death. 5 patients were induced with prostaglandin F2 alpha, given intraamniotically in low doses, starting with 125 micrograms. Doses were increased in relation to uterine activity. 5 other patients were induced by intravenous administration of oxytocin and ergometrine. Uterine pressure was monitored by a transabdominal open-tip catheter system. Results were quantitated in tonus (mm Hg), amplitude (mm Hg), frequency (number of contractions per 10 min), Montevideo units, active and total pressure areas per 20 min. Possible biochemical and coagulation changes were controlled before, during and after induction. Changes did not occur. Intermittent increasing small doses of PGF2 alpha increased uterine activity exponentially. Hypertonia persisting longer than 5 min was seldom seen with oxytocin or with PGF2 alpha. Ergometrine increased frequency of uterine contractions, without influencing tonus, probably due to a specific effect on the 'archemyometrium'. The induction-delivery interval was shorter in the PGF2 alpha group (range: 6-15 h) than in the oxytocin group (range: 7-24 h). In the latter group more inductions were necessary to complete delivery. Using PGF2 alpha in these small doses did not cause any side effects. With the intraamniotic injections, starting with 125 micrograms PGF2 alpha, clinical results are the same as those reported in the literature for high doses.
 ...
PMID:Intermittent low-dose administration of prostaglandins intraamniotically in pathological pregnancies. A comparison with oxytocin and ergometrine. 105 24

The effects of oxytocin, administered by either rapid or slow iv injection, on fallopian tube contractility were studies. Single iv doses were shown to consistently induce several contractions with a mean intensity of 10 mm Hg and hypertonia of varying duration. The oxytocin-induced bursts were synchronous in both tubes while normal spontaneous contractions are asynchronous. The tubes showed a high sensitivity to even small doses of oxytocin. The minimum does (threshold dose) of oxytocin eliciting tubal response in the patients was 250 mU. The intensity and duration of oxytocin-induced contractions were dose-dependent with the maximal responses obtained with oxytocin doses of 5 IU or less. The highest sensitivity was during the proliferative stage of the ovarian cycle. Continuous iv infusions of oxytocin ranging from 20 to 40 mU/minute increased tubal activity during administration. It was determined that the sensitivity of the human fallopian tube to oxytocin was higher than that of the nongravid uterus and lower than that of the mammary gland during lactation.
 ...
PMID:Effect of oxytocin on the contractility of the human oviduct in vivo. 442 8

Studies of prostaglandins (PGs) used for term labor induction are reviewed, and aside from a slight tendency toward developing hypertonus with PGF2 alpha, evidence suggests that prostaglandins for labor induction, while no better than oxytocin, are equally efficacious. After the discovery of PGF2 alpha in the decidua of term pregnant uterus, impetus for research was found. Research first tended to record uterine activity, and next dose-response studies were performed. For labor induction studies, a double-blind study of 300 patients found a comparative advantage in efficacy of PGE2 over PGF2 alpha combined with oxytocin. Other double-blind studies reported an apparent synergism between oxytocin and PGE2 or, on the contrary, reported no difference in efficacy. Anderson's protocol design, using a double-blind protocol with Bishop score-classified patients before induction, has been modified but remains the basis of most protocols. Only in special situations has PGF2 alpha been found more efficacious than oxytocin; such situations are missed abortion, intrauterine death, molar gestations, and anencephalic pregnancy. 1 researcher suggests PGF2 alpha is indicated in patients with very low Bishop scores. Studies on the safety of prostaglandins for labor induction, for both child and mother, have generally concluded that if uterine hyperstimulation is avoided, there will be no serious sequelae. Hypertonus can be avoided by using step-wise dose increases based on labor progression, rather than fixed dose amounts. Also, in terms of safety, there is a possible advantage of PGF2 alpha over oxytocin in the area of antidiuresis, since 1 study has shown that PGF2 alpha has no antidiuretic effect.
 ...
PMID:Induction of term labor with intravenous PGF2 alpha: a review. 478 20

Contractile effects of oxytocin, prostaglandin F2 alpha, acetylcholine, KCl, RbCl, and BaCl2 in the presence of Mn2+ and La3+ ions and other cations were studied in the rat myometrium at 37 degrees C. The effects depended mainly on the kind of the blocking agents (oxytocin in the presence of Mn2+ significantly increased muscle tone whereas in the presence of La3+, Cd2+, Mg2+ the effect was absent). The tone increase in the presence of Ca permeability blocking agents seems to be due to the effect of the agents on the intracellular sources of Ca ions.
 ...
PMID:[Effect of stimulator substances on the contractile activity of the isolated rat myometrium against a background of various calcium permeability blockaders]. 624 89

A prospective, randomized study included 389 pregnant women with normal pregnancy, gestational age of 37 weeks (259 days) in whom the delivery started by premature rupture of fetal membranes and without labor pains 6 or more hours after rupture of fetal membranes. The Bishop score was < or = 6 and there were no clinical or laboratory signs of infection before induction. The first group (n = 219) included pregnant women at term with premature rupture of fetal membranes and unfavourable pelvic score in whom labor was induced by intracervical dinoprostone. The second-control group (n = 170) included pregnant women at term with premature rupture of fetal membranes and unfavorable pelvic score in whom delivery was induced by oxytocin infusion. In a 6 hour interval from the beginning of induction 61.64% women from the I group and 40.00% from the control group had a pelvic score > or = 7, (p < 0.05). After 12 hours the Bishop score was > or = 7 in 89.94% of women from the I group and 61.18% from the II-control group (p < 0.03). 63.34% of women, in whom labor was induced by intracervical application of dinoprostone, had an additional oxytocin induction. 82.18% of women from the first group and 62.25% from the second group (p < 0.05) had vaginal delivery with reduced activity of the uterus (p < 0.05) and significantly decreased number of irregular labor pains (p < 0.05) with hypertonia, hypercontraction and frequent contractions. In the first group the mean time of induction was 8.12 +/- 5.51 hours, while in the second-control group it was 10.83 +/- 7.34 hours (p < 0.01). In the group of deliveries induced by dinoprostone incidence of puerperal induction was 1.01% and 5.93% in the control group. Neonatal infection occurred in 3.19% of newborns in the first group and in 11.18% in the second group. 5.05% of newborns from the first group and 9.41% from the control group suffered from perinatal trauma and anoxia. In the first group the total perinatal morbidity was 10.43% and 31.18% in the second group (p < 0.05).
 ...
PMID:[Prostaglandins in the induction of labor at term with premature rupture of fetal membranes]. 929 47

Increased tone of orexigens mediating reward occurs upon repeated consumption of sweet foods. Interestingly, some of these reward orexigens, such as opioids, diminish activity of neurons synthesizing oxytocin, a nonapeptide that promotes satiety and feeding termination. It is not known, however, whether consumption-related activity of the central oxytocin system is modified under chronic sugar feeding reward itself. Therefore, we examined how chronic consumption of a rewarding high-sucrose (HS) vs. bland cornstarch (CS) diet affected the activity of oxytocin cells in the hypothalamus at the time of meal termination. Schedule-fed (2h/day) rats received either a HS or CS powdered diet for 20 days. On the 21st day, they were given the same or the opposite diet, and food was removed after the main consummatory activity was completed. Animals were perfused 60 min after feeding termination and brains were immunostained for oxytocin and the marker of neuronal activity, c-Fos. The percentage of c-Fos-positive oxytocin cells in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus was significantly lower in rats chronically exposed to the HS than to the CS diet, regardless of which diet they received on the final day. A similar pattern was observed in the supraoptic nucleus. We conclude that the chronic rather than acute sucrose intake reduces activity of the anorexigenic oxytocin system. These findings indicate that chronic consumption of sugar blunts activity of pathways that mediate satiety. We speculate that a reduction in central satiety signaling precipitated by regular intake of foods high in sugar may lead to generalized overeating.
 ...
PMID:Chronic sugar intake dampens feeding-related activity of neurons synthesizing a satiety mediator, oxytocin. 2039 42

The symptoms of myotonia can worsen during pregnancy and tocolysis with ritodrine has been associated with rhabdomyolysis. We describe a patient with myotonia who developed hypertonus immediately following the administration of uterotonic agents. A 24-year-old, G2P1 at 31 weeks of gestation with a history of acetazolamide-responsive myotonia presented with premature rupture of membranes. During cesarean delivery she experienced significant hypertonus of the upper limbs, shoulders, fingers, and mouth immediately after intravenous administration of oxytocin 5 IU and methylergometrine maleate 0.2mg. The mechanism underlying increased muscle tone in response to these drugs remains unclear. Anesthesiologists should be especially attentive to the administration of uterotonic drugs during the management of pregnant myotonia patients.
 ...
PMID:Exacerbation of acetazolamide-responsive sodium channel myotonia by uterotonic agents. 2107 4