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It is well recognized that during pregnancy the placenta develops into a highly active endocrine organ and elaborates a variety of peptide hormones similar or identical to those synthesized and secreted by the hypothalamic-pituitary system. These include chorionic gonadotrophin, the prolactin family of peptides (prolactin, placental lactogen and growth hormone) and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Stewart, Jones, Pascall et al. 1988). In addition, studies based on radioimmunoassay of placental extracts and immunocytochemical examination of placental tissue have demonstrated that the human placenta contains immunoreactive (ir) corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) (Shibasaki, Odagiri, Shizume & Ling, 1982; Petraglia, Sawchenko, Rivier & Vale, 1987), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides namely β-endorphin and corticotrophin (ACTH) (Rees, Burke, Chard et al. 1975; Liotta, Osathanondh, Ryan & Krieger, 1977; Odagiri, Sherell, Mount et al. 1979), enkephalin and dynorphin (Tan & Yu, 1981) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) (Petraglia, Calza, Coukos et al. 1988) all of which are intimately involved in the regulation

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