The morphological study of the development of "intimal thickenings" of the human uterine artery in physiological condition was performed on 72 uterine arteries obtained from foetuses from the 12th week of gestation up to birth. Our results indicate that intimal thickening is formed by the migration and displacement of mesenchymal cells around the site of origin of collateral vessel from uterine...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of Escherichia coli STa (heat stable) toxin on isolated human myometrial response to oxytocin. METHODS One hundred and sixteen muscle strips were obtained from the lower uterine segment of 42 women undergoing cesarean section at term. Amniotic membranes and decidua were excluded. Uterine contractility in response to cumulative doses...

BACKGROUND Myosin light-chain phosphatase is a trimeric protein that hydrolyses phosphorylated myosin II light chains (MYLII) to cause relaxation in smooth muscle cells including those of the uterus. A major component of the phosphatase is the myosin targeting subunit (MYPT), which directs a catalytic subunit to dephosphorylate MYLII. There are 5 main MYPT family members (MYPT1 (PPP1R12A), MYPT...

Uterine innervation undergoes substantial reorganization associated with changes in reproductive status. Nerves innervating the uterus are decreased in pregnancy and puberty, and even the normal rodent estrous cycle is characterized by fluctuations in numbers of myometrial nerve fibers. During the follicular (proestrus/estrous) phase of the estrous cycle, intact nerves are rapidly depleted and ...

  Preterm labor is one of the major causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Despite significant improvement in care for premature neonates, the most suitable and inexpensive treatment is prevention of preterm labor by inhibiting uterine contractions. The aim of this research is to obtain scientific evidence for the relaxant effect of ketotifen on the rat uterus and to provide the preclinica...