Risk factors in pregnancy for post-traumatic stress and depression after childbirth.

Objective: The objective of this study was to find risk factors in pregnancy for post-traumatic stress and depression 1 month after childbirth. Furthermore, the relation between post-traumatic stress and depression was explored.

Design: A prospective longitudinal study.

Risk factors for rupture of the anal sphincter.

Objective: To evaluate risk factors for rupture of the anal sphincter during vaginal delivery.

Material And Methods: All 292 parturients with rupture of the anal sphincter in four neighbouring central hospitals in southern Sweden between 1988 and 1990 were identified retrospectively. For each case a control was selected, the sole matching criterion being that the control woman was the next to give birth vaginally in the same unit as the case.

Genital tract infections associated with the intrauterine contraceptive device can be reduced by inserting the threads into the uterine cavity.

Objective: To study the influence of the position of the threads of an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) on the development of genital tract infection.

Design: A multicentre randomized controlled trial.

Subjects: Women requesting an IUCD.

Local mechanical effects and humoral factors evoke degeneration of guinea pig uterine innervation.

Small porcelain pellets were inserted into one of the uterine horns of virgin guinea pigs. Mating caused pregnancies only in contralateral, non-pellet-containing uterine horns. The number and morphology of uterine nerve structures was studied immunohistochemically.

A study of pregnancy outcome in a small area around a chemical factory and a chemical dump.

Pregnancy outcome was studied in three parishes situated around a chemical factory from which air and water pollution was considered to have occurred. Data on health variables were mainly obtained from registries supplemented with hospital record information. No definite reproductive hazards could be demonstrated but an unusually high perinatal death rate among twins born in the area was noticed.

Inhibition of lactation by cyclofenil and bromocriptine.

In a double blind controlled study of the inhibition of lactation 13 women received 300 mg of cyclofenil and 11 women 2.5 mg of bromocriptine twice daily for 14 days. Lactation was effectively inhibited by both drugs, but with bromocriptine there was a significantly higher frequency of relapse.

Local placental influence on the uterine concentration of oestradiol-17 beta and progesterone in the pregnant guinea-pig.

Oestradiol-17 beta (Oe2) and progesterone (P) concentration in the various regions of the uterus, and in ovaries with or without corpora lutea, were determined in the unilaterally pregnant guinea-pig at mid-term and full-term of pregnancy. The concentrations of both Oe2 and P were highest in the non-pregnant horn, and lowest in the perifoetal and juxtaplacental tissue in mid-term and term pregnancies, respectively. The Oe2 concentration in corpus luteum bearing ovaries was much lower than in those without corpora lutea, whereas the P concentration was higher.

Extensive sympathetic denervation of the uterus during pregnancy as evidenced by tyrosine hydroxylase determinations in the guinea pig.

The capacity for neuronal NE synthesis in the guinea pig uterus was studied during pregnancy and postpartum utilizing animals with bilateral or unilateral pregnancies. The activity of the NE-synthesizing enzyme TH was measured in various parts of the uterus. The submandibular gland was used for comparison.

Adrenergic innervation of the human uterus. Disappearance of the transmitter and transmitter-forming enzymes during pregnancy.

The uterine adrenergic transmitter is in many animal species dramatically reduced during pregnancy, probably leading to a functional denervation near term. In order to clarify whether similar changes also occur in the human uterus, the adrenergic innervation of the isthmic myometrium during nonpregnant and pregnant conditions was analyzed by fluorescence histochemistry for demonstration of adrenergic nerves, and by quantitative measurements of norepinephrine and its synthesizing enzymes, tyrosine hydroxylase and dopa decarboxylase. At term pregnancy all fluorescent adrenergic nerves in the myometrium had disappeared, and the norepinephrine concentration had been reduced to almost zero.

Relationship between plasma and uterine oestradiol in pseudopregnant rabbits.

Plasma oestradiol concentrations did not change during hCG-induced pseudopregnancy except for a slight increase on Day 18. However, a marked decline was observed in tissue oestradiol on Day 3 whether expressed on the basis of tissue wet weight or protein. The lowest concentration was found at Day 6 but the Day 18 values were comparable to those of untreated controls.

Uptake and metabolism of [3H]norepinephrine in uterine nerves of pregnant guinea pig.

Myometrial tissue slices from virgin, pregnant (uni- or bilateral pregnancy), and puerperal animals were incubated in media containing [3H]norepinephrine ([3H]NE), and the neuronal and extraneuronal uptake was estimated. The metabolic fate of [3H]NE was elucidated by the chromatographic separation of [3H]NE, [3H]normetanephrine and 3H-labeled acid metabolites. An early and extensive reduction in both total and neuronal uptakes occurred in the myometrial regions surrounding the fetuses, and at term pregnancy no neuronal [3H]NE uptake at all was found in tissue slices from the fetus-containing horns.

Pregnancy-induced alterations in the turnover rate of 3H-noradrenaline formed from 3H-tyrosine in guinea-pig uterus.

The rate of noradrenaline (NA) turnover in the non-pregnant and pregnant guinea-pig uterus was determined after the administration of the labelled precursor, tyrosine. Endogenous NA was determined fluorimetrically. In non-pregnant animals the turnover of 3H-NA was slower in the uterine horns (t1/2 = 10 h) and cervix (t1/2 = 9 h) than in the reference organ, heart (t1/2 = 6 h).

Ultrastructural evidence for adrenergic nerve degeneration in the guinea pig uterus during pregnancy.

In the guinea pig myometrium, the adrenergic nerves selectively demonstrated at the ultrastructural level after treatment with 5-OH-DA, show varying degree of degeneration during pregnancy. The changes are more extensive in a late gestational stage (40-45 days) than in an early one (20-25 days), and are particularly evident in the uterus overlying the conceptus as compared to the regions between the fetuses. Scattered degenerative changes were also observed in myometrial specimens from virgin animals, but probably reflect the normal continuous turnover of axons.

Differential effect on the sympathetic transmitter level in uterus and other organs of guinea-pig by drugs interfering with adrenergic nerve functions.

5 types of adrenergic blocking agents with different modes of action were administered and the rate of transmitter depletion was studied in different uterine regions of guinea-pig, and compared with that in the heart and submandibular gland by a combination of fluorescence histochemical and spectrofluorimetric methods. The tyrosine-hydroxylase inhibitor, H 44/68, as well as reserpine and guanethidine, produced a more efficient reduction in neuronal noradrenaline in the heart and submandibular gland than in the uterus. A differential action on the sympathetic transmitter, though less clearcut, was seen with 6-hydroxydopamine.

Regional changes in structural and functional integrity of myometrial adrenergic nerves in pregnant guinea-pig, and their relationship to the localization of the conceptus.

Pregnancy is accompanied by a reduction in uterine noradrenaline, and the study was undertaken to investigate associated structural and functional integrity of the sympathetic nerves in the organ. The formaldehyde-induced fluorescence of adrenergic nerves was studied in different uterine regions before and after in vitro incubation or injection with alpha-methyl-noradrenaline in pregnant and puerperal guinea-pig uterus at 6 time periods, from early pregnancy (about 20 days post coitum) to 3 months post partum. The changes were related to the position of the fetuses, which were often present in only one of the two uterine horns.

Estrogen and progesterone interactions in the rabbit uterus in vivo after steroid administration.

After a single injection of Estradurin (polyestradiolphosphate), rabbit plasma 17 beta-estradiol (E2) levels rose to a maximum in 3 days and were maintained for at least a 13-day period. The uterine E2 concentration rose slowly so that at day 12 the tissue/plasma E2 ratio was similar to that in untreated controls. The gain in tissue weight after the Estradurin injection correlated well with the increase in tissue E2 concentration.

Cyclic and steroid-induced changes in adrenergic neurotransmitter level of guinea-pig uterus.

The uterine neurotransmitter, noradren,line, was examined histochemically and fluorometrically in guinea-pigs during the estrous cycle and after pretreatment with sex steroids. In diestrous animals noradrenaline values were higher than in the estrous state. Treatment with estradiol or progesterone alone did not markedly influence the level of uterine adrenergic transmitter, whereas combined estradiol and progesterone administration caused a clear-cut reduction in uterine noradrenaline.

Regional distribution of autonomic nerves in guinea pig uterus.

Uterine adrenergic and cholinergic nerves were examined histochemically and chemically in combination with surgical denervation. There was a clear regional variation with a greater number of axon terminals in the tubal end of the uterine horn and in the cervix compared to the remainder (major part) of the uterine horn. No cholinergic nerves were found in the uterus but were abundant around the uterine artery and its primary ramifications.