Induction of Labor by Oral PGE₂ Administration—Evaluation of Different Dose Schedules

Abstract

The efficacy and safety of different oral doses of PGE, in tablet form were evaluated in 30 women admitted to the hospital for labor induction at or near term. The aim was to select a recommendable dose schedule based on recording of uterine contractility, clinical outcome and measurement of the resulting plasma levels of the two prostaglandin metabolites 15-keto-13.14-dihydro-PGE, and 15-keto-l3,14-dihydro-PGF, by gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry and by radio-immunoassay.Measurements of uterine contractility and of plasma levels of the PGE, metabolite both showed that the preferable interval between oral doses of PGE, tablets is one hour. Following 1 .O mg PGE,, the plasma concentra-7 42 40-43 4.1 3-6 c 15 6 42 40-43 5.0 2-1 *A=5, B = l O Acta Obstet Gynecol &and Suppl92

Induction of Labor by Oxytocin or Prostaglandin E2

“…The plasma concentration reached a peak after 45 to 60 minutes and had returned to or near starting values after 90-120 minutes, following a single oral administration of 1.0 mg PGE2. No accumulation was found when the dose was repeated at hourly intervals (11). The results are in accordance with those reported by Gordon et al (25) using a radio-immunoassay.…”

Eicosanoids as Diagnostics for Preterm Labor

“…A few early studies of explant culture media 55 and plasma 56,57 used gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-a method not subject to the pitfalls of cross-reactivity between eicosanoid species-to demonstrate that an increase in PG concentrations occurs in human labor, but the overwhelming majority of studies (.99% upon review) have used immunoassays, and, hence, the resultant data interpretations may be unsound due to the reasons described in the previous section. Consider the variation that the cross-reactions induce across studies and conclusions and how this would affect reproducibility of results for a diagnostic.…”