Oxytocin and the initiation of human parturition. II. Stimulation of prostaglandin production in human decidua by oxytocin.

In the present study we have investigated the effect of oxytocin on the production of prostaglandins E and F (PGE and PGF) by human decidua, amnion, and myometrium in vitro. We found that oxytocin causes a significant increase in the production of both PGE and PGF in the decidua and in the production of PGE in the amnion. In the myometrium the stimulatory effect of oxytocin on PGF production was small and not statistically significant, and PGE production was not affected at all. On the basis of these results, we propose that oxytocin provides the stimulus for the accelerated prostaglandin production in decidua and fetal membranes at the onset of labor. Since oxytocin levels rise in the fetal circulation at this time, the oxytocin stimulus may be of fetal origin as well as of maternal origin.