Fetal Release of Copeptin in Response to Maternal Oxytocin Administration: A Randomized Controlled Trial

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Oxytocin.

To test whether an oxytocin challenge test raises neonatal levels of copeptin, the C-terminal portion of proarginine vasopressin, a sensitive stress marker elevated in neonates born by vaginal delivery as opposed to elective cesarean delivery.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, women only.

In a randomized controlled trial in women with a singleton pregnancy undergoing elective cesarean delivery at greater than 36 weeks of gestation and no contractions or rupture of membranes, the researchers compared arterial umbilical cord plasma concentrations of copeptin between neonates exposed to an oxytocin challenge test before elective cesarean delivery and those administered saline infusion (placebo group).

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Oxytocin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Oxytocin could be set against what happens without it.

Neonatal copeptin levels were the primary endpoint.

Secondary endpoints included biochemical and physiologic parameters of fetal and maternal well-being.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Cesarean Section, Fetal Blood, Glycopeptides, Labor, Induced, Oxytocics and Oxytocin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2016 (Obstetrics and gynecology), a journal based in United States.

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