Pregnancy, Dupuytren's and Relaxin

Relaxin is a natural hormone which does many things and normally increases during pregnancy. It has been shown to have a range of antifibrotic actions: it inhibits collagen synthesis, increases collagenase activity, inhibits the profibrotic factors TGFß and Interleukin1-ß, and prevents fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts. How does it work? Is Dupuytren's related to low relaxin levels? Could it have a possible role in treating Dupuytren's? Could pregnancy help prevent Dupuytren's and is that why Dupuytren's is more common in men than women? There are more questions than answers, which is the necessary first step toward progress. http://www.dupuytrenfoundation.org/DupPDFs/2005_Samuel.pdf