Pregnancy & Baby Care Newsletter

Pregnancy & Reproduction Textbooks Have To Be Re-written! Did you know your womb produces hormones?

Muscle cells of the pregnant womb produce hormones – contrary to long held (and taught) belief.

It was announced today in the America that muscle cells in the womb produce hormones to support an early pregnancy. Scientists, obstetricians and gynaecologists have always believed that the ovary is the sole organ responsible for producing oestrogen and progesterone hormones at the critical stage in early pregnancy. The widely held belief has been shattered in a ground breaking experiment at the University of Illinois reported by Prof Bagchi, the lead investigator.

The researchers have shown that mice uterine cells produced oestrogen to support an early pregnancy once it has attached to the uterine lining. This is a very important step because without support, the embryo has no way of sustaining itself while the placenta is in its early stages of development. Ovarian progesterone and oestrogen hormones were thought to be solely responsible for the task.

Since the experiment was conducted in mice, there is cause for caution in extrapolating the results and conclusions to the human situation.
Although Prof Bagchi and team still believe the ovary has an important and dominant role, their findings are still very important because they open new avenues to looking at early pregnancy failure and uterine cell diseases afresh.

Indeed there are clinical states when insufficient hormones in early pregnancy lead to failure of pregnancy and miscarriage. Are local uterine cell hormonal factors playing a role in the human disease states?

I anticipate researchers around the world are rushing in their bids for research grants into this exciting new area.

From now on a pregnant uterus is an endocrine organ!

Joe Kabukoba, MD MRCOG
Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

Source:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009, July 22). Uterine Cells Produce Their Own Estrogen During Pregnancy. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720190724.htm