LeMaire, W. J., Conly, P. W., Moffett, A., & Cleveland, W. W. (1970). Plasma progesterone secretion by the corpus luteum of term pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 108(1), 132-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9378(70)90217-6
LeMaire WJ, Conly PW, Moffett A, Cleveland WW. Plasma progesterone secretion by the corpus luteum of term pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1970;108(1):132-134. doi:10.1016/0002-9378(70)90217-6
LeMaire, William J., et al. "Plasma progesterone secretion by the corpus luteum of term pregnancy." American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 108, no. 1, 1970, pp. 132-134.
Corpus luteum still secretes progesterone at term pregnancy
Blood from the ovary holding the corpus luteum carried more progesterone at term. This 1970 study sampled 13 women with normal term pregnancies during elective cesarean section. The authors compared the two ovarian veins. The gap was statistically significant.
Study at a glance: Corpus luteum still secretes progesterone at term pregnancy. Source: LeMaire WJ et al., 1970, PMID 5454578.
Key Findings
Researchers drew blood from 13 women with normal term pregnancies at elective cesarean section: maternal peripheral vein, uterine vein, umbilical vein and ovarian veins.
In all 8 patients in Table I, the ovarian vein draining the corpus luteum held more progesterone than the opposite side.
In 5 more patients, sampled 5 to 10 minutes after delivery, the corpus luteum side was higher than the other side in 4 of 5.
The differences between the two ovarian veins were statistically significant (p < 0.01), although some values overlapped.
Interpretation
This 1970 study drew blood from 13 women with normal term pregnancies during cesarean delivery. Researchers compared progesterone levels between the two ovarian veins. The vein draining the corpus luteum carried more progesterone than the other vein. The result shows the corpus luteum keeps making progesterone through term. Progesterone breaks down fast. About half of it clears from the blood within 5 minutes of delivery, which the authors say explains the timing differences in their samples. The authors note that the placenta takes over progesterone production as pregnancy goes on, calling the corpus luteum's share at term a drop in the bucket. They write that the finding warrants further study.
RRM Context
The corpus luteum forms after ovulation. The corpus luteum is essential to early pregnancy. Restorative reproductive medicine centers ovulation because progesterone starts there. The findings add evidence that the corpus luteum keeps working well past early pregnancy.
Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.
Abstract
Plasma progesterone concentration was determined in the maternal peripheral vein, umbilical vein, uterine vein, and both ovarian veins at elective cesarean section in term pregnancy. In 10 cases plasma from both ovarian veins was analyzed. In all but one the ovarian vein draining blood from the corpus luteum contained greater concentrations of progesterone than did the blood from the side without the corpus luteum. It has been suggested for some time that the corpus luteum of pregnancy continues to function throughout pregnancy. Our data appear to support this concept.
William J. LeMaire, Patricia W. Conly, Alfred Moffett, William W. Cleveland
Bill LeMaire, Will LeMaire, Billy LeMaire, W LeMaire, Pat Conly, Trish Conly, P Conly, A Moffett, Bill Cleveland, Will Cleveland, Billy Cleveland, W Cleveland
PMID 5454578 5454578 DOI 10.1016/0002-9378(70)90217-6 10.1016/0002-9378(70)90217-6 LeMaire et al. 1970, LeMaire 1970
02dgjyy92 
