Inhibitory action of relaxin on human cervical smooth muscle

The influence of purified porcine relaxin on contractility of human cervical smooth muscle was investigated in vitro. Strips of cervical tissue were obtained by needle biopsy from pregnant and nonpregnant women and were mounted in a superfused organ chamber for isometric measurement of contractile activity. Relaxin (0.005-25 micrograms/ml) inhibited the spontaneous contractions in cervical strips from 18% of nonpregnant, 68% of early pregnant, and in 100% of term pregnant women. These results indicate that relaxin has an inhibitory action on cervical smooth muscle and that this effect is more constantly detected as pregnancy proceeds.