History and use of oxytocics

The most widely known oxytocic drug that can be used for the induction of labor or post-partum is oxytocin. In 1954, the american biochemist Vincent du Vigneaud was the first to describe an octapeptide amide with the hormonal activity of oxytocin. One year later, he was able to synthesize this octapeptide amide. In the same year he received the Nobel prize for his work in the field of biochemistry. A reprint of his brilliant publication is reproduced [with kind permission of the editors of the J Am Chem Soc (Fig. 1)]. With slight changes in structure, du Vigneaud was able to synthesize not only oxytocin. but also vasopressin. In our paper, however, we will focus on oxytocin only, as it is this synthetic hormone that has gained considerable importance in obstetrics. It is used for prevention of PPH as well as for induction of labour. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.