1993/11/01 by S. J. Downing, Michael A. Hollingsworth · 1 voice
Health Professions · Medicine · #Occupational Health and Performance #Pregnancy-related medical research #Preterm Birth and Chorioamnionitis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1530/jrf.0.0990275
openalex publication_date 1993/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Action of Relaxin on the Uterus Relaxin is a potent, reversible inhibitor of spontaneous uterine contractions in a number of species, including rats, mice, guinea-pigs, rabbits, sheep and pigs, in vivo and in vitro. The potency of relaxin on the isolated uterus is about 1–5 nmol l−1 (assuming a molecular mass of 6 kDa; Table 1); relaxin is therefore one of the most potent uterine relaxants known. The isolated human uterus, however, has been reported to be relatively insensitive to relaxin. Human recombinant relaxin has only recently become available and, therefore, in this review it may be assumed that the studies described were conducted using porcine relaxin unless stated otherwise. Low doses of relaxin selectively reduce the frequency of contractions in rats in vivo and at high doses complete inhibition of myometrial contractions is achieved (Downing and Hollingsworth, 1991, 1992a). The duration of inhibition is related to the dose of