The effects of oxytocin and atosiban on the modulation of heart rate in pregnant women

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this clinical trial publication.

To evaluate autonomic modulation of heart rate in pregnant women treated with oxytocin to induce labor and with atosiban (an oxytocin antagonist) to arrest preterm labor.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 14 women were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, women only.

A prospective study with two cohorts: 14 pregnant women treated with atosiban for premature uterine contractions, and 28 women undergoing induction of labor with oxytocin.

How the Study Was Run

Computerized analyses of the electrocardiogram were performed with spectral and nonlinear dynamic analyses.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Electrocardiography, Heart Rate, Labor, Induced, Obstetric Labor, Premature, Oxytocics, Oxytocin and Tocolytic Agents.

Author keywords: Atosiban, autonomic nervous system, heart rate variability and preterm birth.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a clinical trial of Oxytocin in 14 women.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 3 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2017 (The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians), a journal based in England.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.