Progesterone increases basal 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate formation and down-regulates the agonist-induced inositol phosphates generation in human term placenta.

Whether the placenta is a target tissue for estrogens and progesterone, and their putative mechanism of action, is still a controversial question in the literature. The effect of progesterone and estradiol on 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and inositol phosphates generation in human term placenta was investigated. Placental explants were incubated in vitro for up to 48 h in the absence and in the presence of estradiol, progesterone or both steroids (0.1 μmol/l final concentration in all cases), and were stimulated with terbutaline, a β-adrenergic agonist, (0.1 mmol/l) or angiotensin II(1 μmol/l), The cAMP content was measured by a competitive protein binding assay, and the gene…