ABSTRACT
The demonstration in the late 1970s that the human decidua was the major source of prolactin in the amniotic fluid first led to the notion of the decidua as an endocrine organ (Riddick and Kusmik, 1977; Bigazzi et al., 1979; Riddick et al., 1979). In the intervening 30 years the decidua has been shown to synthesize and secrete a large number of hormones, growth factors and their receptors (Table 21.1). Many of the hormones and growth factors expressed by the human decidua act in an autocrine manner to affect decidual function while some act in a paracrine manner to affect trophoblast function. In addition, many of the decidual hormones and growth factors are regulated, at least in part, in a paracrine manner by factors secreted by the placenta and fetal membranes. In this chapter recent advances relating to decidual prolactin, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), renin, endothelins, relaxin and cytokines will be summarized, with a focus on the human decidua. Reviews of hormones and growth factors expressed by the rodent decidua have been discussed elsewhere (Gu et al., 1996; Lin et al., 1997; Cerro and Pintar, 1997).
