Term and preterm labor are associated with increased fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation and synthesis of prostaglandins (PGs) generated through the increased expression of prostaglandin H synthase-II (PGHS-II) in the placenta. Inhibition of PGHS-II has been advocated as a means of producing uterine tocolysis, but the effects of such treatment on fetal endocrine functions have...

BACKGROUND The success of ovarian follicle growth and ovulation is strictly related to the development of an adequate blood vessel network required to sustain the proliferative and endocrine functions of the follicular cells. Even if the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) drives angiogenesis before ovulation, the local role exerted by Progesterone (P₄) remains to be clarified, in particu...

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of the antiprogesterone RU486 on the expression levels of multiple gap junction (GJ) gene products and, in detail, on alpha 1 (connexin43 [Cx43]), in various regions of the rat implantation chamber during experimentally induced preterm labor at mid/late stages of gestation. Vaginal bleeding, but not expulsion of concepti, was observe...

Status epilepticus (SE) induces rapid hyper-activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. HPA axis hyperactivity results in excess exposure to high levels of circulating glucocorticoids, which are associated with neurotoxicity and depression-like behavior. These observations have led to the hypothesis that HPA axis dysfunction may exacerbate SE-induced brain injury. To test...

Leucocyte infiltration in the decidua (maternal-foetal interface) before, during and after term (TL) and preterm labour (PTL) was studied in mouse. We also investigated the mechanism of peripheral leucocyte recruitment into decidua by analysing the tissue cytokine profiles. Decidual tissues were collected during late gestation, TL and post-partum (PP). PTL was initiated on gestational day 15 by...

Methylprednisolone (MP) is used to treat a variety of neurological disorders involving white matter injury, including multiple sclerosis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and spinal cord injury (SCI). Although its mechanism of action has been attributed to antiinflammatory or antioxidant properties, we examined the possibility that MP may have direct neuroprotective activities. Neurons and...

BACKGROUND Ablation of the low-affinity receptor subunit for leukemia inhibitory factor (LIFR) causes multi-systemic defects in the late gestation fetus. Because corticosterone is known to have a broad range of effects and LIF function has been associated with the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, this study was designed to determine the role for LIFR in the fetus when exposed to the elevated...

We have used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay to follow transcription factor loading and monitor changes in covalent histone modifications associated with the prostate-specific antigen and kallikrein (KLK2) genes in response to androgen and antiandrogen in LNCaP cells. The dynamics of testosterone (T)-induced loading of androgen receptor (AR) onto the proximal promoters of the genes d...

We have identified two novel compounds (RTI 3021-012 and RTI 3021-022) that demonstrate similar affinities for human progesterone receptor (PR) and display equivalent antiprogestenic activity. As with most antiprogestins, such as RU486, RTI 3021-012, and RTI 3021-022 also bind to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) with high affinity. Unexpectedly, when compared with RU486, the RTI antagonists man...