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Search for other papers by MARGARET WARD ORSINI in
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This communication presents a technique for induction of deciduomata in the pseudopregnant hamster which is simple, reliable, and relatively non-traumatic; the decidualization resembles in pattern and distribution that of normal pregnancy. Such deciduomata may be induced by injection of air during the 4th day (i.e. 3 days and 9–22 hr. after ovulation) of pseudopregnancy induced by mating with a vasectomized male.
The ovarian end of each uterus, exposed through a dorsolateral incision, is held between the fingers and the needle inserted into the ovarian end of the lumen. With a tuberculin syringe and a 26 gauge, ⅜ in. needle, 0·05 ml. of air is injected into the uterine lumen; a drop of Vaseline placed about the upper end of the plunger prevents slipping and allows exact control of the volume. Although the uterus is slightly distended by the injections, little bleeding occurs and no internal sutures are required. Autopsy at
Search for other papers by F. R. BLATCHLEY in
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Search for other papers by B. T. DONOVAN in
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SUMMARY
In mated guinea-pigs one uterine horn was rendered sterile by ligation of the oviduct 2 or 3 days after finding spermatozoa in the vaginal smear. Two glass beads were inserted into the sterile horn on each of days 3–12 and on day 14 in experimental animals but not in controls. At autopsy on day 20 large corpora lutea were present in both ovaries of the control animals. The presence of beads that had been introduced on days 3 and 4 and on days 10–14 resulted in marked regression of the corpora lutea in the adjacent ovary, in the absence of a decidual reaction in the uterus, while luteal enlargement typical of pregnancy occurred in the contralateral ovary. Beads inserted on days 5–8 caused decidualization in the sterile horn but did not induce premature luteal regression in the ipsilateral ovary.
Search for other papers by C. A. FINN in
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Search for other papers by R. M. POLLARD in
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In the mouse the uterus passes through a brief period of sensitivity, during which blastocyst attachment takes place and the decidual cell reaction is initiated, followed by a period of insensitivity when the uterus is hostile to a blastocyst and decidualization cannot be initiated (Psychoyos, 1963; Finn, 1966). These functional states can be correlated with distinct morphological changes in the uterine epithelium and are controlled by the ovarian hormones. In the sensitive state the uterine lumen is closed with interlocking of the microvilli from the luminal surfaces of opposing epithelial cells (1st stage of closure) while insensitivity is characterized by a reorganization of the luminal surfaces with the disappearance of the microvilli and the formation of a very complex channel and close apposition of opposing epithelial cells (2nd stage of closure) (Pollard & Finn, 1972).
Ovariectomized mice can be made sensitive to a decidual stimulus by priming for 3 days
Search for other papers by M. R. Johnson in
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Search for other papers by K. H. Nicolaides in
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Search for other papers by S. L. Lightman in
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ABSTRACT
Relaxin was measured in maternal blood and amniotic fluid samples at 9–40 weeks and in fetal blood samples at 19–41 weeks of pregnancy. In amniotic fluid, concentrations of relaxin rose from 58 ng/1 (geometric mean) at 10 weeks to 142 ng/l at 14 weeks and declined subsequently to 55 ng/l at 22 weeks. In maternal blood, mean relaxin concentrations were ten times greater than in amniotic fluid, and concentrations decreased with gestation. Since there was no significant association between the relaxin concentrations in the two compartments, relaxin in the amniotic fluid may be derived from the decidualized endometrium rather than the maternal circulation, alternatively its metabolism may be different in the two compartments. The absence of detectable concentrations of relaxin in any of the fetal blood samples demonstrates that there is no significant placental transfer or fetal synthesis of this peptide.
Journal of Endocrinology (1992) 134, 313–317
Search for other papers by KATHLEEN HALL in
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SUMMARY
Incidence and patterns of mitoses and histochemical localization of alkaline phosphatase (APase) and adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) were studied from days 5 to 20 in pseudopregnant mice in which deciduomata had been induced in the left uterine horns by intrauterine injection of oil on day 4, the right horns serving as controls.
In stromal cells, mitoses were very numerous throughout the endometrium of the left (but not the right) horn on days 5 and 6, in the basal, non-decidualized stroma until day 8 or day 9, and were not seen in stromal cells of either horn thereafter. In glandular epithelium, mitoses were absent from days 5 to 10, and numerous from day 11 or 12 until at least day 17 in both horns. Mitoses were present in capillaries within developing deciduomata on days 5 and 6, then seldom seen until day 12 and during the next 3 days were numerous in endothelial and pericapillary cells in the mesometrial quadrant of the left horn and around glands in both horns.
The deciduoma cells reacted strongly with AP and ATP substrates from days 5 to 10, after which the intensity of the reaction weakened and had usually disappeared by day 13. ATPase activity disappeared from vascular endothelium within the deciduoma a few hours after APase had appeared within the deciduoma cells on day 5. It reappeared in the vessel walls on day 9 and thereafter was usually present until the deciduoma was shed. In the basal, non-decidualized stroma, APase was absent until about day 10, then appeared in the stroma cells nearest to the myometrium, extending gradually into the densely packed cells nearest to the regressing deciduoma. The possible role of this enzyme in reparative growth of the endometrium after regression of the deciduoma is discussed.
Search for other papers by G. T. Waites in
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Search for other papers by R. F. L. James in
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Search for other papers by R. A. Walker in
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Search for other papers by S. C. Bell in
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ABSTRACT
We have previously shown that pregnancy-associated α1-globulin, a small molecular weight (32 kDa) insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGF-BP), is quantitatively the major secretory protein product of the decidualized endometrium during human pregnancy and is localized principally in the decidual cell. In the present study, employing monoclonal antibodies in immunohistological techniques, the distribution and localization of IGF-BP has been examined in normal and pathological tissues of the adult and first trimester fetus. In the adult, most intense reactivity was associated with endometrial stroma and their derived decidual cells in the uterus or in ectopic sites in patients with endometriosis. During the menstrual cycle, the appearance of IGF-BP in endometriotic tissue was linked with its appearance in uterine endometrial tissue. The only other adult cells where significant staining was detected was in the luteal cells of the corpus luteum. Production of the protein was not a feature of carcinomas. In the fetus, the protein was localized in lymphoid-myeloid progenitor cells and hepatocytes of the liver and at lower levels in testicular Leydig cells and adenocortical cells. These observations suggest highly specific tissue expression of this protein and support a specialized role for this protein in progenitor cells of the lymphomyeloid system, in certain steroid hormone-producing cells and in the decidual cell in pregnancy.
Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 124, 333–339
Search for other papers by P. G. Jayatilak in
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Search for other papers by G. Gibori in
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ABSTRACT
The objectives of this investigation were to determine whether decidual tissue possesses specific binding sites for prolactin, and to examine whether the locally produced prolactin-like hormone binds to these receptors. Characterization of the binding of prolactin to decidual tissue from rats at day 9 of pseudopregnancy revealed specific, high-affinity sites. Binding approached saturation with increasing concentrations of either the ligand or the protein. Cytosolic extracts of day-9 decidual tissue, containing various amounts of decidual luteotrophin which possesses several of the physiological and biochemical characteristics of prolactin, displaced the binding of 125I-labelled prolactin to decidual membranes in a linear fashion. Prolactin-binding sites were detectable 72 h after induction of decidualization and 48 h after the appearance of decidual luteotrophin in the decidua. Prolactin receptor concentrations increased significantly between days 8 and 9, reached a plateau between days 9 and 12 and declined abruptly on days 14 and 15, accompanied by a similar decline in decidual luteotrophin concentration in the tissue. Thus rat decidual tissue possesses specific receptors for prolactin to which decidual luteotrophin locally produced can bind, thereby suggesting an auto/paracrine role for this substance.
J. Endocr. (1986) 110, 115–121
Search for other papers by B. G. MILLER in
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SUMMARY
Changes in the metabolism of pyrimidine 5′-nucleotides and RNA in the mouse uterus during the oil-induced decidual cell reaction were investigated. During the first 20 h after the intraluminal injection of 10 μl sesame oil the amounts of HClO4-soluble nucleotides and uridine 5′-nucleotides in the treated horn increased by 55% and 115%, respectively. During the same interval RNA increased by 101%, while the increase in protein was much smaller, and the amount of DNA remained almost unchanged.
Doses of [2-14C]uridine, [5-3H]cytidine and [5-3H]orotic acid were administered to mice 20 min before killing. After [2-14C]uridine injection the specific activity of the uridine 5′-nucleotide fraction 20 h after the oil stimulus had not changed, while the specific activity of RNA increased by 43% during the 20-h interval. Similar results were obtained when [5-3H]-cytidine was injected. In contrast, after an injection of [5-3H]orotic acid the specific activities of both the uridine 5′-nucleotide and RNA fractions decreased with increasing time after the intraluminal injection of oil. When approximate rates of RNA synthesis were calculated independently from the data for [2-14C]uridine and [5-3H]orotic acid incorporation in these two fractions, the results agreed well, and indicated that the rate of synthesis of RNA in the decidualizing uterus increased by 64% and 163% at 8 and 20 h respectively after the intraluminal administration of sesame oil.
Search for other papers by KATHLEEN HALL in
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SUMMARY
The distribution of histochemically demonstrable 5′-nucleotidase activity in the uterus of mice around the time of nidation, is compared with those of specific and non-specific acid phosphatases, alkaline phosphatase, phosphorylase, and with deposition of glycogen. The sequences of changes in distribution were similar during normal (first pregnancy) or delayed (by lactation) implantation, or when implantation was induced in lactating mice by administration of hormones.
5′-Nucleotidase activity was located at the free border of the luminal epithelium and at surfaces of stromal cells and muscle fibres up to the time of implantation, and in non-decidualized areas after implantation, but disappeared from differentiated decidual cells. The disappearance of 5′-nucleotidase activity from decidual cells occurred at the time when their mitotic activity was waning and when alkaline phosphatase activity had appeared at their surfaces, and lagged slightly behind both glycogen deposition and increased phosphorylase activity in these cells. There was parallel distribution of phosphorylase activity and glycogen distribution within decidua.
At the time of implantation, a reaction appeared in stromal cells in the immediate vicinity of the blastocyst after incubation with either adenosine-5′-monophosphate or glycerophosphate at acid pH, and it spread in area during the next 24 h. It was believed to indicate activity of a non-specific acid hydrolase, possibly lysosomal.
In all uteri examined, epithelial cells of glands showed specific acid phosphatase, but no 5′-nucleotidase activity.
Search for other papers by W. J. DE GREEF in
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Search for other papers by P. E. SCHENCK in
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Search for other papers by M. J. BAUM in
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Daily administration of oestradiol benzoate, beginning 10 days after mating, stimulates lordosis behaviour in deciduomata-bearing pseudopregnant rats, but not in pregnant rats. The inhibition of this behaviour during pregnancy was not prevented by reducing the number of conceptuses to two, by removing the fetuses while leaving the placentas in utero, or by removing the ovaries and administering progesterone to prevent abortion. Removal of the uterus or fetuses and placentas on day 12, however, led to high levels of lordosis behaviour. Thus, it is likely that the placenta produces a factor which inhibits the behavioural responsiveness to oestrogen.
Plasma levels of progesterone, androsterone and dihydrotestosterone were higher during the second half of pregnancy than in the second half of pseudopregnancy prolonged by uterine decidualization. The possible involvement of these steroids in the inhibition of lordosis behaviour was investigated by increasing their levels in deciduomata-bearing pseudopregnant rats and determining the effect on oestrogen-induced lordosis behaviour. Little suppression of this behaviour was seen when the pseudopregnant rats were treated with progesterone or androsterone whereas treatment with dihydrotestosterone resulted in a significant inhibition of lordosis behaviour. However, the dose of dihydrotestosterone required to do so resulted in high, non-physiological plasma levels of this steroid. No inhibition of lordosis behaviour was observed when dihydrotestosterone levels were approximately threefold those normally present in pregnant rats. It is concluded that none of these three steroids is primarily responsible for the suppression of lordosis behaviour during pregnancy.
