Plasma steroid, relaxin and dihydro-keto-prostaglandin F-2 alpha changes in the minipig in relation to myometrial electrical and mechanical activity in the pre-partum period.

Recordings of electromyographic and mechanical activities of the uterus of intact and ovariectomized minipigs during the last days of pregnancy, combined with a frequent blood sampling regimen, indicated that the evolution of electrical activity was dependent upon the clearance both of progesterone and relaxin from the plasma. Increases in dihydro-keto-prostaglandin-F-2 alpha (DHKF-2 alpha) occurred only after the initial decline in progesterone, and were positively correlated with increases in electrical activity only after circulating relaxin titres had fallen. These results demonstrate that relaxin provides for the inhibition of the myometrium during the period when progesterone titres decline. The temporal relationship of the decline of progesterone and the rise in DHKF-2 alpha suggests that uterine PGF-2 alpha may not initiate luteolysis in the sow at term.