Agent Delays Pre-term Labor in Rats

A clinical trial has shown that mixed oxytocin (OT)-vasopressin receptor antagonist atosiban exhibited similar efficacy as betablockers in treating pre-term labor in rats, but with markedly lower maternal cardiovascular side effects.

A long-time aim of obstetrical research has been to find agents that could delay or diminish pre-term labor because it is a leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity. In the United States, disorders associated with short gestation and low birth weight accounted for 4,400 or 15.7% of infant deaths in 2002, second only to congenital disorders, which accounted for 5,570 deaths.

There is evidence that OT plays an important role in pre-term labor, especially causing contractions of the myometrial muscles. OT-receptor agonists have been shown to inhibit spontaneous myometrial contractions in vitro and to suppress myometrial activity in live animal models.

"Delaying labor with oxytocin receptor antagonist may significantly reduce infant morbidiy, including lung disease, intraventricular hemorrhage, and possibly even death,” said David P. Brooks, vice president, biology, U.S., GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, (GSK, London, UK; www.gsk.com). He explained that GSK researchers have developed a series of nonpeptide selective oxytocin receptor antagonists that have a high affinity for the human and rat OT receptors with a greater than 1,000-fold selectivity over the human
vasopressin receptors. "These compounds suppress spontaneous contractions in late-term (19-21 days) pregnant rats,” he added.






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