Though caffeine is believed to hamper female fertility, the way it does this is not known. Well, a fresh research now reveals that caffeine reduces muscle activity in the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from a woman’s ovaries to her womb. This may provide an intriguing explanation as to why women with high caffeine consumption often take longer to conceive than others.
Human eggs are microscopically small and need to travel to a woman’s womb for a successful pregnancy. Though this process is necessary for a successful pregnancy, little is allegedly known about how eggs move through the muscular Fallopian tubes. Generally it is presumed that tiny hair-like projections named cilia in the lining of the tubes, waft eggs along assisted by muscle contractions in the tube walls. However, analyzing tubes from mice enabled scientists to assume that caffeine restricts the actions of specialized pacemaker cells in the wall of the tubes.
These cells supposedly coordinate tube contractions so that when they are inhibited, eggs can’t move down the tubes. Additionally, these muscle contractions are assumed to play a significant role than the beating cilia in moving the egg towards the womb. The probable correlation between caffeine consumption and reduced fertility has provided Professor Sean Ward from the University of Nevada School of Medicine and colleagues a better understanding of the way Fallopian tubes work. It can seemingly aid in comprehending how ectopic pregnancy is caused.
The research is published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.