Rac Valeria E, Small Charlene, Scott Catherine A, Adamson S Lee, Rurak Dan, Challis John R, Lye Stephen J
Research Centre for Women's and Infant's Health, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Aug;195(2):528-34. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2006.02.011. Epub 2006 Apr 19.
Preterm birth occurs in 5% to 10% of all pregnancies and is associated with considerable neonatal mortality and morbidity. Effective and safe drugs to prevent preterm labor are not currently available. We have hypothesized that the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam, a more selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor will successfully inhibit labor but avoid the complications associated with inhibition of cyclooxygenase-1.
Preterm labor was induced in chronically catheterized sheep by RU486 administration. Animals were then randomized to receive maternal infusions of saline (n = 5) or meloxicam (n = 4) for 48 hours or until delivery when the animals were killed and tissues and blood samples collected.
Maternal infusion of meloxicam inhibited uterine contractions, increasing contraction duration, and attenuating frequency and amplitude. Saline-treated animals progressed to delivery. Administration of meloxicam was not associated with any change in fetal or maternal blood gas status, osmolality, arterial pressure, heart rate, or fetal blood flows.
Meloxicam may represent a potentially safe and effective tocolytic agent.
