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

This study aimed to investigate the long-term toxicity of a preventive regimen of tamoxifen (TAM) and recombinant human interferon alpha 2b (rHuIFN alpha 2b) on the uterine responsiveness of tumour-bearing rats. The experimental tumour was induced by dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) in virgin female albino rats and the therapy was started two months after carcinogen administration. The acute effect of DMBA on the uterine sensitivity was also assessed 24 h post-carcinogen. The uterotonic potentials of oxytocin and prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) were markedly reduced in the control tumour-bearing group as compared to the normal one. Similarly, acute DMBA administration showed reduced uterine sensitivity to both agents. Treatment with either TAM or combined TAM/rHuIFN alpha 2b did not affect the uterine response to either oxytocin or PGF2 alpha, while rHuIFN alpha 2b increased the uterine sensitivity to oxytocin but not to PGF2 alpha. These data indicate that the carcinogenic agent per se and the presence of tumour reduce the contractile response in the rat uterus to oxytocic agents. Moreover, combined TAM/rHuIFN alpha 2b does not markedly affect the uterine sensitivity in DMBA-induced mammary carcinoma-bearing rats.
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PMID:Altered uterine sensitivity to oxytocin and prostaglandin F2 alpha in dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced rat mammary carcinoma: the effects of tamoxifen and/or recombinant human interferon alpha 2b therapy. 905 98

This review considers the potential reduction of embryo mortality in vitro and in vivo in ruminants. Data on cytokines provided by different fields of reproductive immunology and biology were collated. Because of the crucial importance of the local interactions between the embryo and its dam, the expression of growth-factor and cytokine genes was analysed in the embryo proper, trophoblast, oviduct and endometrium by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in sheep and in cattle during the pre- and periimplantation periods. Many deleterious cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and beneficial cytokines, such as transforming growth factor-beta, leukaemia inhibiting factor, colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), granulocyte-macrophage CSF, IL-1, IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-tau appeared to be involved in embryo survival in ruminants and other species. Their administration is efficient in a murine experimental model (CBA/J x DBA/2) of embryonic and fetal mortality. For instance, recombinant ovine IFN-tau (roIFN-tau) injected at the moment of implantation drastically reduces embryonic mortality in this model. In ruminants, roIFN-tau and recombinant bovine IFN-tau are very efficient in maintaining progesterone luteal secretion in cyclic animals. The involvement of IFN-tau in the mechanisms of maternal pregnancy recognition are particularly detailed in relation to inhibition of 13,14 dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGFM) pulses and oxytocin uterine receptivity. A synthetic model of the anti-luteolytic effects of IFN-tau on the endometrial cell is proposed. Finally, the particular potential of serum pregnancy-specific proteins (PSPs: PSPB, PSP60, pregnancy-associated glycoprotein) for monitoring embryo survival, with examples given for cattle and sheep is underlined.
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PMID:Recent developments and potentialities for reducing embryo mortality in ruminants: the role of IFN-tau and other cytokines in early pregnancy. 926 83

The medial preoptic nucleus (MPO), which is involved in sexual and maternal behaviors, contains neuronal clusters that have been described as being sexually dimorphic in size and neuropeptide content in a variety of species. A subnucleus in DBA/2J (D2) inbred mice, called the pars compacta of the MPO (MPOpc), is absent in C57BL/6J (B6) inbred mice (Robinson et al. [1985] J. Neurogenet. 2:381-388). We report here on experiments that further characterize strain and sex differences in medial preoptic morphology in D2 and B6 inbred mice. A prominent MPOpc, located within the caudal part of the MPO and dorsal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, was present in both male and female D2 animals but was absent from B6 animals. MPOpc neurons were darkly stained for Nissl substance and larger than neurons in the surrounding MPO. In D2 brains, galanin-immunoreactive (-ir), oxytocin-ir, vasopressin-ir, and NADPH diaphorase-positive neurons were concentrated within the MPOpc. Fewer similar neurons in the comparable region of the MPO of B6 mice suggests that the absence of the MPOpc is due to absence of these neurons rather than a less compact organization. In D2 animals, the density of galanin-ir neurons in the MPOpc was sexually dimorphic, with higher numbers of galanin-ir neurons in females. Strain differences in galanin-ir, oxytocin-ir, vasopressin-ir, and NADPH diaphorase staining appeared to be limited to the MPOpc. Cholecystokinin-immunoreactive neurons, which have been reported to be numerous in the sexually dimorphic central subdivision of the MPO of rats, were sparse in the MPO of D2 and B6 mice. Confirmation of the MPOpc as an accessory magnocellular neurosecretory nucleus was obtained by finding labeling of MPOpc neurons after injection of DiI into the posterior pituitary.
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PMID:Strain and sex differences in the morphology of the medial preoptic nucleus of mice. 1106 65