Immunophenotype of porcine oviduct epithelial cells during the oestrous cycle: a double-labelling immunohistochemical study.

The luminal epithelium of the porcine oviduct is composed of ciliated cells and secretory cells, but it is assumed for several species that under the control of steroid hormones secretory cells are able to be transformed into ciliated cells. In order to better understand such physiological changes during the different stages of the oestrous cycle, we evaluated epithelial cell proliferation together with oestrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) expression of porcine ampullary oviducts. To identify the immunophenotype of proliferating cells, double immunohistochemistry was performed using anti-chromogranin A antibody (anti-CgA) as the second primary antibody. Anti-CgA, recently shown to be an immunocytochemical marker of ciliated cells of the cow, also labelled specifically the luminal surface of ciliated cells of the pig. Double labelling of sections with the monoclonal antibody MIB-1 against the proliferation-associated nuclear epitope Ki-67 and anti-CgA clearly demonstrates that MIB-1 was selectively localised in the nuclei of secretory cells. Proliferative activity was not observed in CgA-positive ciliated cells in all examined stages of the oestrous cycle. The percentage of Ki-67-positive epithelial cells was higher at pro-oestrus, compared with the other stages of the oestrous cycle. Furthermore, ERalpha immunoreactivity was exclusively detected in the nuclei of the epithelial cells, which were negative for CgA. We conclude, therefore, that oestrogen may induce the initial proliferation of secretory cells and promote the differentiation into ciliated cells. Copyright 2004 Springer-Verlag