Faculty Bibliography

Serum relaxin concentrations were quantitated throughout pregnancy. Relaxin levels were higher in the first than in either succeeding trimester of pregnancy. Relaxin concentrations in third-trimester twin pregnancies were not significantly different from those in singleton pregnancies. Relaxin levels in toxemic pregnancies were similar to those of normal pregnancy. In contrast, relaxin concentrations in pregnancies beyond 43 weeks' gestation and in women with premature labor were significantly lower than levels in normal women in the third trimester of pregnancy

A woman with a septate vagina and two cervices was observed. One of the cervices ended blindly. The other cervix communicated with a normal corpus and two normally positioned patent fallopian tubes. Two explanations for the origin of this accessory cervix are offered: (1) that it originated from a fusion failure of the lower portions of the mullerian ducts, and (2) that it arose from the urogenital sinus

PIP: Serum samples were drawn every 2 days during control menstrual cycles from 5 healthy women using barrier forms of contraception. Relaxin (a peptide hormone produced by the human corpus luteum of pregnancy) was not detectable in their serum. 2500 IU hCG im were then administered in all subjects every 2 days beginning 8 to 10 days after first hCG injection, rising to pregnancy levels (range, 0.26 to 0.62 ng/ml; mean, 0.38 + or - 0.17 ng/ml) by cycle day 31 and then declining before menstruation. Progesterone levels and cycle lengths of relaxin-secreting cycles were significantly higher (p 0.05) than control cycles. Relaxin was not detectable in 3 of 5 subjects who subsequently received 2500 IU hCG im every 2 days starting 2 to 3 days after presumed ovulation until menstruation. HCG can induce relaxin secretion in nonpregnant women. It is suggested that the age of human corpus luteum of the menstrual cycle is an important determinant of responsiveness to hCG

Relaxin is a peptide hormone produced by the corpus luteum during pregnancy in human beings. There are no extraluteal sites of production of relaxin in women. By means of a heterologous porcine radioimmunoassay, serial serum relaxin concentrations were determined in three women throughout pregnancy and into labor. All three demonstrated a first-trimester elevation followed by a second-trimester decline; values then remained stable throughout the second and third trimesters and into labor. This further confirms the functional activity of the corpus luteum throughout pregnancy and the value of relaxin as an index of luteal function during gestation

Repetitively short luteal phases were found in eight infertile women. The short luteal phase was defined as 10 days or less from the presumed time of ovulation (as assessed by basal body temperature recording) to the onset of menses. Clomiphene citrate (Clomid) therapy resulted in pregnancy in two patients and lengthened the luteal phase in the other six. Ultimately, seven of eight patients conceived during Clomid therapy. Clomid therapy can lengthen the luteal phase in patients with luteal temperature elevation of 10 days or less. The occurrence of short luteal phases may be associated with infertility