title: The influence of drugs on the kinin-forming system in relation to pregnancy and parturition in the rat.
abstract: The duration of normal gestation and parturition in the rat can be changed by treatment with drugs which alter the equilibrium of the kallikrein-kinin system. The kallikrein inhibitor, aprotinin, when given from Days 19-22 of pregnancy prolongs gestation. Treatment with aprotinin from Days 20-22 of pregnancy prolongs the parturient process, as does a single dose given on the morning of Day 22. Kallikrein, when administered from Days 19-22 of pregnancy, results in a prolongation of gestation and abolishes the pre-parturient behaviour ('labour'). Parturition is prolonged and many fetuses are stillborn. Soya bean trypsin inhibitor when given from Days 19-22 of pregnancy delays and prolongs parturition; maternal haemorrhage occurs during birth and many fetuses are born dead or are abandoned at birth. It is suggested that the kallikrein-kinin system plays a functional role in the normal process of parturition in the rat.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007611:Aprotinin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000139:chemically induced; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D007704:Kininogens / Q000502:physiology; D007705:Kinins / Q000502:physiology; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000187:drug effects; D006473:Postpartum Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D014361:Trypsin Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D007704:Kininogens; D007705:Kinins; D014361:Trypsin Inhibitors; D007611:Aprotinin; D007610:Kallikreins