| 摘要 |
A method is provided for avoiding premature labor in a pregnant mammal comprising administering to said mammal, during labor, but before an infant is to be delivered, an effective amount of an activin antagonist. In one embodiment, the antagonist is follistatin. In another aspect a method is provided for assaying whether a pregnant mammal is in imminent delivery of its fetus in preterm labor comprising contacting a maternal serum sample or amniotic fluid sample of the mammal with a reagent that detects activin A and measuring the level of activin A in the serum or amniotic fluid. In addition, a kit for the assay is provided.
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