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Anti-cancer drug may hold keys to reducing premature birth

An anti-cancer drug has been found to have the properties of inhibiting contractions in uterine muscle tissue which may aid in reducing premature birth.

Every year, nearly 50,000 premature births occur in the U.K., and around 1,500 of those preterm babies die each year. This has led many to call for much-needed research into methods of decreasing premature birth.

Researchers at Newcastle University—with the help of funding from the children’s charity Action Medical Research—found that an anti-cancer drug, Trichostatin A, drastically reduced muscle contractions in uterine muscle tissue. The researchers said that the drug worked by ramping up production of protein kinase A (PKA) that is responsible for controlling muscle contractions.

The team found that with the application of the drug to uterine muscle tissue, there was an average 46 percent decrease in the rate of contractions in the tissue and an average 54 percent decrease in the rate of oxytocin-induced contractions.

“This is an exciting new discovery as we now know that protein kinase A has an important role in controlling relaxation of the uterus during pregnancy,” said Dr. Nick Europe-Finner, the project leader.

“The discovery that Trichostatin A can inhibit contractions, presumably due to its effect on PKA, means that this drug could potentially be used to prevent premature labor; however, further laboratory studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of this and similar anti-cancer agents.”

Commenting on the results of the study, Professor Jane Norman of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said, “At the moment, it’s not possible to treat preterm labor effectively. We only have drugs that delay it by 24 hours or so—not enough to deliver the baby safely.

“One of the interesting things about this research is that they are using a new kind of drug—the drugs we are currently using have been around for a long time. And they are targeting pathways we have not known about before.”

“When you consider that preterm birth rates are rising in all four countries of the U.K., a new more effective drug is badly needed.”

         

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Twins Born 51 Hours Apart Celebrate Their First Birthday

Hayley Phillips had to endure another 51 hours of labor after her first son was delivered until the second twin decided to make his way into the world.

Like any woman, Hayley Phillips was expecting her second twin to be delivered shortly after the first, but for her that was not the case. It took another 51 hours and a whole new labour before the mom gave birth to her second twin.

The twins, Ryan and Lewis were not only born on different days but are also different star signs as well. They are set to celebrate their first birthday with Ryan’s being two days before Lewis’ birthday.

Phillips says, “There were two separate labours, with Ryan being born at home and Lewis in hospital, they have different birthdays, different star signs and if Lewis had been born a few days later he would be in a different school year. They look the same but they couldn’t be any more different.”

Hayley was admitted to Sunderland Royal Hospital on August 23 last year with what she thought was premature labor. She was 11 weeks away from her due date. She was thought to have a mild infection and was sent home only to go into labour minutes after arriving back at her home.  Ryan was born 10 minutes later on the floor of her bathroom and weighed in at 2lb 14oz. Phillips was then re-admitted to prepare for the birth of Lewis.

But it did not happen as fast as they thought it would.

“As soon as I got to the hospital it was like I hadn’t even given birth,’ Miss Phillips said. “All of the pains stopped and I felt fine. I spent the next two days visiting Ryan in the neonatal unit with Lewis still inside me, which was very strange. I was looking at Ryan in the flesh while holding a scan of his twin brother in my hand.”

After two days she was sent home again only to go into labour soon afterwards.  Lewis was finally born six hours late,weighing  in at 3lb 3oz.

Lewis had to be taken to the neonatal care unit and there he received a blood transfusion, was placed on a ventilator and was put into a 72 hour induced coma. He spent 8 weeks in the hospital and then him and his brother were finally reunited for good.

Hayley says, “It was such a blessing to be able to hold them together. They’re fighting fit now and have grown well. They’ve both been little miracles.”

         

Swine Flu drug Tamiflu urged for Pregnant Women

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) said on Tuesday that because a test result for the new H1N1, “Swine Flu” flu can take days, Tamiflu should be given to any pregnant patient with flu symptoms combines with likely contact with someone else with Swine Flu.

Pregnant women who get swine flu are at such high risk of complications like dehydration, pneumonia and premature labor that they should be treated immediately with the drug Tamiflu, despite not being recommended in pregnancy.

Dr. Denise Jamieson, a C.D.C. medical officer said: “If I’m thinking influenza — the classic symptoms, febrile, aching all over, came on all of a sudden — and this flu is in the community, and I’d otherwise give the patient Tamiflu if she wasn’t pregnant, we’re saying, ‘Don’t delay because she’s pregnant,’”

“At that point, the benefit of giving Tamiflu outweighs the risk.”

Tamiflu maker Roche say it’s not normally recommended for use by pregnant women because the effects on the unborn child are an unknown.

Dr. Jamieson, an obstetrician, said most medicines had insufficient safety data for pregnancy “because you don’t do clinical trials in pregnant women.” But she added, “Tamiflu and Relenza are fairly safe in pregnancy.”

Tamiflu and Relenza are in the same class of drugs. But Tamiflu is a pill and liquid, while Relenza is a powder that must be inhaled, so it is prescribed much less often.

The C.D.C. and the World Health Organization said case histories in Mexico and the United States suggested that pregnancy was emerging as a risk factor rivaling asthma, diabetes, immunosuppression and cardiovascular disease.

One of the three deaths in the United States involved a pregnant Texas woman who was on no medication other than prenatal vitamins, the disease centers said. The agency knows of 20 confirmed or probable swine flu infections in pregnant Americans, and “a few have had severe complications,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the interim deputy director for public health.

American doctors are often reluctant to prescribe flu drugs for pregnant women unless they develop severe symptoms like pneumonia. Pregnant women are often reluctant to take medication. A pregnant woman is at higher risk from flu because hormonal changes depress the immune system to protect the fetus.

Details about the death of the pregnant woman in Texas emerged Friday in the disease centers’ weekly morbidity and mortality report. Dr. Jamieson said the woman had mild asthma and psoriasis, but was relatively healthy. The woman has been widely identified as Judy Trunnell, 33.

Mrs. Trunnell was eight months pregnant when she entered the hospital with pneumonia on April 19, five days after flu symptoms began and she had been found flu-positive in a doctor’s office test. Her baby was delivered by Caesarean section and is healthy. She developed acute respiratory distress on April 21 and needed mechanical ventilation. She did not get Tamiflu until April 28. She died May 4.

It is becoming clear that the epidemic in the United States will mirror the epidemic in Mexico, and similar rates of severe illness should be expected. The outbreak across Europe is still spreading slowly because the Europeans aggressively treat every suspected mild case with Tamiflu, health officials said.

The United States now has more than 3,000 confirmed cases — two-thirds in people younger than 18 — but only 116 hospitalizations. But officials note that hospitalizations take slightly longer to appear in statistics and deaths take much longer.