Immunohistochemical demonstration of relaxin in the placenta after removal of the corpus luteum.
We studied the occurrence of relaxin in the term placenta from a woman who had normal pregnancy after her corpus luteum had been removed at the beginning of the second trimester. Two antisera (antiserum R6 and anti-NIH-RXN-P1. 3000 U/mg) against highly purified porcine relaxin and the avidin-biotinylated anti-rabbit IgG method were used to detect relaxin-like immunoactivity. Specific staining for relaxin was seen in the placental syncytiotrophoblasts. Comparison to a placenta from a normal term delivery revealed no differences in the intensity or distribution of staining. Our case substantiates that the corpus luteum is not the only tissue producing relaxin during pregnancy.
D000328:Adult; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D003537:Cystadenoma / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000601:surgery; D012065:Relaxin / Q000378:metabolism*
D012065:Relaxin