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Atosiban
Atosiban, sold under the brand name Tractocile among others, is an inhibitor of the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. It is used as an intravenous medication as a labour repressant (tocolytic) to halt premature labor. It was developed by Ferring Pharmaceuticals in Sweden and first reported in the literature in 1985. Originally marketed by Ferring Pharmaceuticals, it is licensed in proprietary and generic forms for the delay of imminent preterm birth in pregnant adult women. The most commonly reported side effect is nausea. Medical uses Atosiban is used to delay birth in adult women who are 24 to 33 weeks pregnant, when they show signs that they may give birth pre-term (prematurely). These signs include regular contractions lasting at least 30 seconds at a rate of at least four every 30 minutes, and dilation of the cervix (the neck of the womb) of 1 to 3 cm and an effacement (a measure of the thinness of the cervix) of 50% or more. In addition, the baby must have a normal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tocolytics
Tocolytics (also called anti-contraction medications or labor suppressants) are medications used to suppress premature labor (from Greek τόκος ''tókos'', "childbirth", and λύσις ''lúsis'', "loosening"). Preterm birth accounts for 70% of neonatal deaths. Therefore, tocolytic therapy is provided when delivery would result in premature birth, postponing delivery long enough for the administration of glucocorticoids, which accelerate fetal lung maturity but may require one to two days to take effect. Commonly used tocolytic medications include Beta2-adrenergic agonist, β2 agonists, calcium channel blockers, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, NSAIDs, and magnesium sulfate. These can assist in delaying preterm delivery by suppressing uterine muscle contractions and their use is intended to reduce fetal Disease, morbidity and Mortality rate, mortality associated with preterm birth. The suppression of contractions is often only partial and tocolytics can only be relied on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labour Repressant
Tocolytics (also called anti-contraction medications or labor suppressants) are medications used to suppress premature labor (from Greek τόκος ''tókos'', "childbirth", and λύσις ''lúsis'', "loosening"). Preterm birth accounts for 70% of neonatal deaths. Therefore, tocolytic therapy is provided when delivery would result in premature birth, postponing delivery long enough for the administration of glucocorticoids, which accelerate fetal lung maturity but may require one to two days to take effect. Commonly used tocolytic medications include β2 agonists, calcium channel blockers, NSAIDs, and magnesium sulfate. These can assist in delaying preterm delivery by suppressing uterine muscle contractions and their use is intended to reduce fetal morbidity and mortality associated with preterm birth. The suppression of contractions is often only partial and tocolytics can only be relied on to delay birth for a matter of days. Depending on the tocolytic used, the pregnant woma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnesium Sulfate
Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate (in English-speaking countries other than the US) is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula , consisting of magnesium cations (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions . It is a white crystalline solid, soluble in water but not in ethanol. Magnesium sulfate is usually encountered in the form of a hydrate , for various values of ''n'' between 1 and 11. The most common is the heptahydrate , known as Epsom salt, which is a household chemical with many traditional uses, including bath salts. The main use of magnesium sulfate is in agriculture, to correct soils deficient in magnesium (an essential plant nutrient because of the role of magnesium in chlorophyll and photosynthesis). The monohydrate is favored for this use; by the mid 1970s, its production was 2.3 million tons per year. The anhydrous form and several hydrates occur in nature as minerals, and the salt is a significant component of the water from some springs. Hydrates Magnesi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peptides
Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Hence, peptides fall under the broad chemical classes of biological polymers and oligomers, alongside nucleic acids, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and others. A polypeptide that contains more than approximately 50 amino acids is known as a protein. Proteins consist of one or more polypeptides arranged in a biologically functional way, often bound to ligands such as coenzymes and cofactors, or to another protein or other macromolecule such as DNA or RNA, or to complex macromolecular assemblies. Amino acids that have been incorporated into peptides are termed residues. A water molecule is released during formation of each amide bond.. All peptides except cyclic peptides ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxytocin Receptor Antagonists
Oxytocin (Oxt or OT) is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. It plays a role in social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Oxytocin is released into the bloodstream as a hormone in response to sexual activity and during labour. It is also available in pharmaceutical form. In either form, oxytocin stimulates uterine contractions to speed up the process of childbirth. In its natural form, it also plays a role in bonding with the baby and milk production. Production and secretion of oxytocin is controlled by a positive feedback mechanism, where its initial release stimulates production and release of further oxytocin. For example, when oxytocin is released during a contraction of the uterus at the start of childbirth, this stimulates production and release of more oxytocin and an increase in the intensity and frequency of contractions. This process compounds in intensity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nifedipine
Nifedipine (3,5-dimethyl 2,6-dimethyl-4-(2-nitrophenyl)-1,4-dihydropyridine-3,5-dicarboxylate), sold under the brand name Adalat and Procardia, among others, is a calcium channel blocker medication used to manage angina, high blood pressure, Raynaud's phenomenon, and premature labor. It is one of the treatments of choice for Prinzmetal angina. It may be used to treat severe high blood pressure in pregnancy. Its use in preterm labor may allow more time for steroids to improve the baby's lung function and provide time for transfer of the mother to a well qualified medical facility before delivery. It is a calcium channel blocker of the dihydropyridine type. Nifedipine is taken by mouth and comes in fast- and slow-release formulations. Common side effects include lightheadedness, headache, feeling tired, leg swelling, cough, and shortness of breath. Serious side effects may include low blood pressure and heart failure. There is tentative evidence that its use in pregnancy is saf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritodrine
Ritodrine (trade name Yutopar) is a tocolytic drug used to stop premature labor. This drug has been removed from the US market, according to FDA Orange Book. It was available in oral tablets or as an injection and was typically used as the hydrochloride salt, ritodrine hydrochloride. Mechanism Ritodrine is a short-acting β2 adrenoreceptor agonist — a class of medication used for smooth muscle relaxation (other similar drugs are used in asthma or other pulmonary diseases such as salbutamol (albuterol)). Since ritodrine has a bulky ''N''-substituent, it has high β2 selectivity. Also, the 4-hydroxy group on the benzene ring is important for activity as it is needed to form hydrogen bonds. However, the 4-hydroxy group makes it susceptible to metabolism by catechol-''O''-methyl transferase (COMT). Since it is β2-selective it is used for premature labor. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cochrane Collaboration
Cochrane (previously known as the Cochrane Collaboration) is a British international charitable organisation formed to organise medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions involving health professionals, patients and policy makers. It includes 53 review groups that are based at research institutions worldwide. Cochrane has approximately 30,000 volunteer experts from around the world. The group conducts systematic reviews of health-care interventions and diagnostic tests and publishes them in the Cochrane Library. According to the Library, articles are available via one-click access, but some require paid subscription or registration before reading. A few reviews, in occupational health for example, incorporate results from non-randomised observational studies as well as controlled before–after (CBA) studies and interrupted time-series studies. History Cochrane, previously known as the Cochrane Collaboration, was founded in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta-adrenergic Agonist
Beta adrenergic agonists or beta agonists are medications that relax muscles of the airways, causing widening of the airways and resulting in easier breathing. They are a class of sympathomimetic agents, each acting upon the beta adrenoceptors. In general, pure beta-adrenergic agonists have the opposite function of beta blockers: beta-adrenoreceptor agonist ligands mimic the actions of both epinephrine- and norepinephrine- signaling, in the heart and lungs, and in smooth muscle tissue; epinephrine expresses the higher affinity. The activation of β1, β2 and β3 activates the enzyme, adenylate cyclase. This, in turn, leads to the activation of the secondary messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP); cAMP then activates protein kinase A (PKA) which phosphorylates target proteins, ultimately inducing smooth muscle relaxation and contraction of the cardiac tissue. Function Activation of β1 receptors induces positive inotropic, chronotropic output of the cardiac muscle, lead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Placebo
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general, placebos can affect how patients perceive their condition and encourage the body's chemical processes for relieving pain and a few other symptoms, but have no impact on the disease itself. Improvements that patients experience after being treated with a placebo can also be due to unrelated factors, such as regression to the mean (a statistical effect where an unusually high or low measurement is likely to be followed by a less extreme one). The use of placebos in clinical medicine raises ethical concerns, especially if they are disguised as an active treatment, as this introduces dishonesty into the doctor–patient relationship and bypasses informed consent. While it was once assumed that this deception was necessary for placebos to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systematic Review
A systematic review is a Literature review, scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from published studies on the topic, then analyzes, describes, and summarizes interpretations into a refined conclusion. For example, a systematic review of randomized controlled trials is a way of summarizing and implementing evidence-based medicine. While a systematic review may be applied in the Biomedical research, biomedical or health care context, it may also be used where an assessment of a precisely defined subject can advance understanding in a field of research. A systematic review may examine clinical tests, public health interventions, environmental interventions, social interventions, adverse effects, qualitative evidence syntheses, methodological reviews, policy reviews, and economic evaluations. An understanding of systematic review ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Medicines Agency
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA).Set up by EC Regulation No. 2309/93 as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, and renamed by EC Regulation No. 726/2004 to the European Medicines Agency, it had the acronym EMEA until December 2009. The European Medicines Agency does not call itself EMA either – it has no official acronym but may reconsider if EMA becomes commonly accepted (secommunication on new visual identity an). The EMA was set up in 1995, with funding from the European Union and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as indirect subsidy from member states, its stated intention to harmonise (but not replace) the work of existing national medicine regulatory bodies. The hope was that this plan would not onl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
