BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is to investigate 1) whether equol has the direct modulation on vascular tone of endothelium-denuded human uterine artery, and 2) if present, whether this equol-induced modulation of vascular tone is mediated by intracellular calcium modulation through Ca(2+) & K(+) channels on vascular smooth muscle cell membrane. METHODS The uterine arteries were obtaine...

The actions of the endogenous peptide nociceptin (PNOC; previously abbreviated as N/OFQ) on the myometrium have not been investigated previously. Our aim was to study the presence and functional role of PNOC in the modulation of uterine contractility in pregnant rats at term. The presence of PNOC and its receptors (OPRL1; previously called NOP) in the uterus were detected by radioimmunoassay an...

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether pregnancy affects endothelin (ET)-1-induced contraction, the density ofET receptors, and the ratio of receptor subtypes (ET(A) and ET(B)) in uterine smooth muscle in humans. We also investigated which ET receptor subtypes mediate ET-1-induced contraction in the human uterus. In uterine membrane preparations, (125)I-labeled ET-1 ((125)I...

Achillea millefolium (AM) is widely used in traditional medicine a wide geography due to its effects on the female reproductive system. However, effect uterine smooth muscle contractions unknown. Our study aims investigate of AM spontaneous and oxytocin-induced isolated rat contractions. Myometrial strips were obtained from 32 adult Wistar Albino rats. Contraction amplitudes frequencies recorde...

Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a common gynecological disorder. Hitherto, animal models which recapitulate clinical features of PD have not been fully established. We aimed to examine whether a pain model in mice could mimic the clinic features of PD. After pretreated with estradiol benzoate (1 mg/kg/day) intraperitoneally (i.p.) for 3 consecutive days, non-pregnant female Imprinting Control Regi...

Brown A, Cornwell T, Korniyenko I, Solodushko V, Bond CT, Adelman JP, Taylor MS. Myometrial expression of small conductance Ca -activated K channels depresses phasic uterine contraction. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 292: C832–C840, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00268.2006.—Mechanisms regulating uterine contractility are poorly understood. We hypothesized that a specific isoform of small conductance Ca...

The uterine tissue consists of unstriped muscle fibre and ganglia of the sympathetic system imbedded in it. The sacral roots and pelvic nerve do not enter into the composition of the uterine plexus. In the rabbit, irritation of the hypogastric nerve produces vasoconstriction and contraction of the uterus. In cats, stimulation of the hypogastric nerve produces at one time contraction and at othe...

Background: There is much debate about effects of medicinal plants such as saffron (Crocus sativus) on human health. Women are highly involved in farming and processing of this plant. This study is aimed at evaluating the saffron impacts on miscarriage rate of female farmers working in saffron fields. Methods: This was a prospective case-control study on pregnant female farmers during harvestin...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the efficacy of magnesium sulfate as a second-line tocolysis for 48  hours. MATERIALS AND METHODS A multi-institutional, simple 2-arm randomized controlled trial was performed. Forty-five women at 22 to 34 weeks of gestation were eligible, whose ritodrine did not sufficiently inhibit uterine contractions. After excluding 12 women, 33 were randomly assigned to either ma...

PURPOSE The present study was designed to clarify the direct effects of the volatile anesthetics halothane, isoflurane and sevoflurane on oxytocin-induced uterine smooth muscle contraction from pregnant rats. METHODS Longitudinal smooth muscle layers were obtained from pregnant rats. Intracellular concentration of free Ca++ ([Ca++](i)) was measured, using a fluorescence technique, simultaneou...