ArticleMedical hypotheses2020
Contractile function of the cervix plays a role in normal and pathological pregnancy and parturition.
Article in Medical hypotheses, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Distinct pregnancy challenges in PCOS women undergoing IVF/ICSI with singleton and twin births: a propensity-matched analysis.Journal of ovarian research · 2026Article
- Reframing Cervical Insufficiency as a Dynamic Process in the Preterm Birth Continuum: From Fixed Disease to a Modifiable Condition.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Regional differences in three-dimensional fiber organization, smooth muscle cell phenotype, and contractility in the pregnant mouse cervix.Science advances · 2024Article
- Morphophysiological Assessment of the Cervix during the Reproductive Cycle and Early Pregnancy in Does Using Computed Tomography and Oxytocin Receptor Immunohistochemistry.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Whole cervix imaging of collagen, muscle, and cellularity in term and preterm pregnancy.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Uterine Collagen Cross-Linking: Biology, Role in Disorders, and Therapeutic Implications.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2024Review
- TIME Is Ticking for Cervical Cancer.Biology · 2023Review
- Modeling ascending Ureaplasma parvum infection through the female reproductive tract using vagina-cervix-decidua-organ-on-a-chip and feto-maternal interface-organ-on-a-chip.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2022Article
- Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) of feto-maternal reproductive tissues generates inflammation: a detrimental factor for preterm birth.BMB reports · 2022Article
- Fetal inflammatory response at the fetomaternal interface: A requirement for labor at term and preterm.Immunological reviews · 2022Review
- Spontaneous preterm birth: Involvement of multiple feto-maternal tissues and organ systems, differing mechanisms, and pathways.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- The Role of Biaxial Loading on Smooth Muscle Contractility in the Nulliparous Murine Cervix.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2021Article
- Oxidative stress promotes cellular damages in the cervix: implications for normal and pathologic cervical function in human pregnancy†.Biology of reproduction · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The cervix plays an integral part in ensuring the proper timing of pregnancy and parturition. It maintains the fetus within the uterus and protects it from pathogens present in the vaginal canal. The cervix undergoes extensive remodeling during pregnancy and parturition. This process is associated with collagen degradation, an increase in immune cell response and inflammation in the cervix. However, our understanding of the role of cervical smooth muscles and their contribution to cervical remodeling is still lacking. In this paper, we propose that the active contractile function of the cervix influences cervical remodeling during pregnancy and parturition. Contraction of the cervical smooth muscles helps the cervix to remain firm and closed during early pregnancy, while relaxation of the cervical smooth muscles help facilitate cervical dilatation during labor. This contractile function of the cervix can be influenced by endocrine signals, such as estrogen, progesterone, and oxytocin; local paracrine signals, such as inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, as well as extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes and ectosomes; and by pharmacological agents used for cervical ripening and the induction of labor. A deeper understanding of the role of smooth muscles in cervical remodeling can help us elucidate the cellular processes in the cervix during pregnancy and parturition. This can also help in finding critical signaling pathways and therapeutic targets in the cervix that may decrease the rates of premature cervical ripening and preterm birth.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.