METHODS FOR INDUCING UTERINE CONTRACTION AND COMPOSITIONS USEFUL THEREFOR

摘要

In accordance with the present invention, it has been discovered that PBEF is an effective agent for inducing and/or augmenting the labor process, and related conditions (e.g., preparing the uterus for inducing labor, inducing cervical ripening, promoting pregnancy termination, treating incomplete miscarriage, treating post partum hemorrhage, and the like). Accordingly, methods are provided for preparing the uterus for inducing labor, inducing cervical ripening, promoting pregnancy termination, treating incomplete miscarriage, treating post partum hemorrhage, and the like. In addition, methods are also provided for treating ectopic or abdominal pregnancy. The previously observed action of PBEF, i.e., to cause the upregulation of other genes which code for proteins involved in starting the labor process, is very different from its direct action on the myometrium observed herein. What was previously demonstrated by microarray analysis (Ognjanovic S, Tashima LS, Bryant-Greenwood GD. The effects of pre-B-cell colony enhancing factor on the human fetal membranes by microarray analysis. Amer J Obstet Gynecol (2003) 189:1187-1195) was that in four hours, the PBEF acted upon the fetal membrane, which surrounds the inside of the uterus, to upregulate this important cassette of genes. The proteins encoded by these genes would then be made by the cells of the fetal membrane and their secretion would allow them to act upon the nearby tissues, the uterus and cervix. On the other hand, the discovery being addressed herein shows a direct and almost instant effect of PBEF on human myometrial contraction. This action is surprising in that it is rapid and direct, and therefore cannot be occurring via the upregulation of other genes and the action of their proteins.