[202] While in general, animals are not said to experience preterm birth, there is variability in gestation within species. Recent data, for example, suggest that there is significant variability in mouse gestation related to strain[203] or cytokine expression.[204] Progesterone has been used in various formats for the prevention of preterm birth.[205, 206] Clearly, there are patients who respond to progesterone and those who do not. Only a proportion of women respond to vaginal progesterone, particularly if the cervix in shortened. Even among women

with a tendency toward preterm birth as evidenced by a previous premature buy Ku-0059436 delivery, there are those who respond to regular administration of a progestational agent, while others do not. Finally, with the reinstatement of progesterone and related agents

in the past decade, there remains a significant incidence of preterm birth.[207] Use of animal models in conjunction with a more careful study of responders versus non-responders[208] in human trials of progesterone and related agents will enhance our understanding and management of pregnancy. Decreased relative progesterone activity can be modeled in mice via oophorectomy or administration of agents such as RU486 in primates (see above). Preterm birth can also be generated in rabbits using RU486.[209] Novel models of endocrine disruption in mice[210] and likely other animals are being developed. In several animal models, a signal PD0332991 from the fetus, the placenta, or the endometrium leads directly or indirectly through a systemic response circuit to decreased relative progesterone activity and increased estrogen activity.[211, 212] This in turn leads to increased prostaglandin (increased production, decreased hydrolysis), uterine contractions, cervical ripening, and subsequent rupture OSBPL9 of membranes and expulsion of the

fetus. For example, the stress response, thought to be mediated by cortisol, is modeled in sheep by systemic administration of glucocorticoid[213] or in the fetus.[214] The complexity of these models is likely to increase and bring forth possible means to modify the process of disrupted endocrine function in premature birth.[34] Immune/inflammatory In very well-studied models in mice (for examples[215-217]), rabbits,[218-220] and primates,[221-223] exposure of the uterus to an inflammatory signal or infectious process leads to an increased local presence of inflammatory cells[217, 224] and feeds into the mechanisms resulting in increased uterine contractions or cervical ripening and subsequent preterm birth.