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Collagenolytic Activity and Steroid Levels After Administration of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate
Author(s) -
Mochizuki Matsuto,
Honda Tomohiko,
Tojo Shimpei
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/j.1879-3479.1978.tb00437.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate , steroid , dehydroepiandrosterone , administration (probate law) , endocrinology , pharmacology , hormone , androgen , political science , law
Seventy‐five pregnant women in their 38th to 41st weeks of gestation were given a single intravenous injection of 200 mg of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS). The changes in estriol, 17β‐estradiol and progesterone levels in the serum, the uterine cervix and the myometrium of the placenta‐implanting site were then determined. Estriol levels remained unchanged both in serum and tissue, but the level of 17β‐estradiol increased sharply both in serum and tissue after four hours. The increases of 17β‐estradiol in the serum and the portio vaginalis of the same patient were well correlated (r = 0.79898), but the percentage of increase was much higher in the portio vaginalis than in the serum (p < 0.001). Serum progesterone levels did not change initially, but always decreased within four or eight hours in cases in which labor had started or delivery was accomplished within 24 hours (p < 0.01 at four hours). The total amount of collagenase was determined in ten subjects before and after the administration of DHAS. The total collagenase activity was elevated by an average of 152.3%. The peak of activity was accelerated from the fourth to the second day (p < 0.001) of the culture. A probable mechanism of DHAS action in accelerating cervical ripening is presented.