background and objective: epidural analgesia (ea) has been used to relieve labor pain in many obstetric units, yet controversy persists about its effect on progress and outcome in labor. the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of ea on the rate of cervical dilation and myometrial contractility. methods: in a 6-month period, 36 women who received standardized ea were matched ...

Parturition is composed of five separate but integrated physiological events: fetal membrane rupture, cervical dilatation, myometrial contractility, placental separation and uterine involution. Prostaglandins (PGs) have central roles in each of these, but the most studied is myometrial contraction. Elevated uterine PGs or the enhanced sensitivity of the myometrium to PGs leads to contractions a...

Metabolomics, an essential technique in precision medicine, contributes to the molecular fingerprinting of tumours, further helping to understand their pathogenesis. In this work, using a LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS platform, we demonstrated the existence of a specific metabolomic signature which could define endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC), arising the endocannabinoid system as a potential path...

We investigated the effect of PCB-77, -126 or -153 (10 or 100 ng/ml) on free intracellular calcium concentrations([Ca2+]i) in bovine myometrial cells from days 1-5 of the estrous cycle. Cells were incubated with or without PCBs for 48 h (38 degrees C, aerated atmosphere) and thereafter [Ca2+]i was measured by means of fluorescent calcium indicator Fura-2. PCBs increased basal concentrations of ...

As thrombin is proposed to be involved in stimulating myometrial contractility during labor and preterm labor, we aimed to investigate the expression of prothrombin (F7), the precursor of thrombin, its receptors, the protease-activated receptor (PAR) family (F2R, F2RL1, F2RL2, and F2RL3), and prothrombinase FGL2 in human myometrium during pregnancy and labor. Messenger RNA and protein were isol...

Uterine contractility is generated by contractions of myometrial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) that compose most of the myometrial layer of the uterine wall. Calcium ion (Ca(2+)) entry into the cell can be initiated by depolarization of the cell membrane. The increase in the free Ca(2+) concentration within the cell initiates a chain of reactions, which lead to formation of cross bridges between a...

CONTEXT Beta3-adrenoreceptor modulation in human myometrium during pregnancy is linked functionally to myometrial inhibition. Maxi-K+ channels (BK(Ca)) play a significant role in modulating cell membrane potential and excitability. OBJECTIVE This study was designed to investigate the potential involvement of BK(Ca) channel function in the response of human myometrium to beta3-adrenoceptor act...