LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Relationship between endogenous melatonin concentrations and uterine contractions in late third trimester of human pregnancy

Photo from wikipedia

In humans, circulating levels of the hormone melatonin and the initiation of spontaneous labor are both higher at night than during the day. Since activation of uterine melatonin receptors can… Click to show full abstract

In humans, circulating levels of the hormone melatonin and the initiation of spontaneous labor are both higher at night than during the day. Since activation of uterine melatonin receptors can stimulate human in vitro uterine contractions and these receptors are only expressed on the uterine tissue of women in labor, we hypothesized that circulating melatonin concentrations would affect uterine contractions in vivo. We evaluated the impact of light‐induced modulation of melatonin secretion on uterine contractions in women during late third trimester (~36‐39 weeks) of pregnancy in two inpatient protocols. We found a significant (P < 0.05) positive linear association between circulating melatonin concentrations and the number of uterine contractions under both protocols. On average, uterine contractions increased between 1.4 and 2.1 contractions per 30 minutes for every 10 pg/mL*h increase in melatonin concentration. These findings have both basic science and clinical implications for pregnant women, since endogenous melatonin levels and melatonin receptor activity can be altered by light and/or pharmaceutical agents.

Keywords: uterine contractions; third trimester; melatonin; melatonin concentrations; late third; endogenous melatonin

Journal Title: Journal of Pineal Research
Year Published: 2019

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.