Abstract
The change in, the amount of immunoreactive oxytocin in human term placental tissue due to cycloheximide, an inhibitory agent of protein biosynthesis, was observed by a tissue culture method.
The immunoreactive oxytocin content per gram tissue was 1.81ng/g and significantly decreased to 1.17-1.11ng/g when the concentrations of cycloheximide were at 1-10pg/ml in culture medium.
The total quantity of immunoreactive oxytocin including medium content was 1.82ng/g and significantly increased to 3.06ng/g in the control group. However, those of the groups in which added cycloheximide was at 1-10pg/ml, were 1.91-1.85ng/g and showed no remarkable changes after incubation.
The data suggest that immunoreactive placental oxytocin can be synthesized in the human placenta itself rather than in other tissues.
