Differential regulation of prostaglandin production by inhibitors and stimulators in amniotic fluids during normal and dysfunctional labor.
The regulatory effect of amniotic fluid factors on prostaglandin production by sheep seminal vesicle prostaglandin synthetase was determined using samples obtained before and after the onset of labor. Variations in the enzyme incubation conditions permitted the effects on both prostaglandin E (PGE) and prostaglandin F (PGF) production to be assessed. Amniotic fluid obtained before the onset of labor and during early labor resulted in a net stimulation of PGE production and no difference was observed between these two groups. Samples obtained before and during early labor had no net effect on PGF production. However, when samples obtained late in labor were tested, there was a greater stimulation of PGF and less of PGE compared to early labor suggesting a preference for PGF production rather than PGE in late labor. When samples obtained from patients in dysfunctional labor were compared to normal labor, no difference on the effect of either PGE or PGF production was observed. This implies that the decreased PGF previously described in dysfunctional labor is due to an intrinsic abnormality of the fetal membranes rather than inhibition of prostaglandin production by factors mediated via the amniotic fluid.
D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D005260:Female; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000378:metabolism; D011453:Prostaglandins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012669:Seminal Vesicles / Q000201:enzymology; D012756:Sheep
D011453:Prostaglandins; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases; D005978:Glutathione