PROBLEM: Throughout the reproductive cycle and into early pregnancy, the normal endometrium undergoes changes in a range of leukocytes, epithelia, stromal fibroblasts, and vascular structures caused by intersecting effects of hormone balance and embryo implantation. The direct investigation in humans of reproductive tract responses during normal and physiologically altered cycles is not practical or feasible. METHOD AND STUDY: The aim of this study was to define immunological and morphological changes through immunohistological and morphometric evaluation of the endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle and the decidua during early gestation in the rhesus monkey, a tractable experimental animal model. RESULTS: A zone-dependent method for the immunohistological description of the rhesus uterine mucosa was established and showed that leukocyte infiltration, stromal cell decidualization, glandular and vascular responses were zone- and cell type-dependent, and changed throughout the cycle and early pregnancy. Morphological heterogeneity of uterine natural killer cells in the cycling endometrium and gestational decidua were consistent with the recent characterization of phenotypic subsets. CONCLUSIONS: These data establish a morphological platform upon which to further study the regulation of endometrial responses to the hormonal mileau of pregnancy, the control of local leukocyte populations, and the responses to threatened pregnancy, infection, and inflammation.
PROBLEM: Throughout the reproductive cycle and into early pregnancy, the normal endometrium undergoes changes in a range of leukocytes, epithelia, stromal fibroblasts, and vascular structures caused by intersecting effects of hormone balance and embryo implantation. The direct investigation in humans of reproductive tract responses during normal and physiologically altered cycles is not practical or feasible. METHOD AND STUDY: The aim of this study was to define immunological and morphological changes through immunohistological and morphometric evaluation of the endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle and the decidua during early gestation in the rhesus monkey, a tractable experimental animal model. RESULTS: A zone-dependent method for the immunohistological description of the rhesus uterine mucosa was established and showed that leukocyte infiltration, stromal cell decidualization, glandular and vascular responses were zone- and cell type-dependent, and changed throughout the cycle and early pregnancy. Morphological heterogeneity of uterine natural killer cells in the cycling endometrium and gestational decidua were consistent with the recent characterization of phenotypic subsets. CONCLUSIONS: These data establish a morphological platform upon which to further study the regulation of endometrial responses to the hormonal mileau of pregnancy, the control of local leukocyte populations, and the responses to threatened pregnancy, infection, and inflammation.
Authors: Marianne J van den Heuvel; Xuemei Xie; Chandrakant Tayade; Crystal Peralta; Yuan Fang; Sean Leonard; Valdemar A Paffaro; Abdol K Sheikhi; Coral Murrant; Barbara Anne Croy Journal: Am J Reprod Immunol Date: 2005-12 Impact factor: 3.886
Authors: M Hickey; J Crewe; J P Goodridge; C S Witt; I S Fraser; D Doherty; F T Christiansen; L A Salamonsen Journal: J Clin Endocrinol Metab Date: 2005-07-26 Impact factor: 5.958
Authors: Miranda Li; Alyssa Brokaw; Anna M Furuta; Brahm Coler; Veronica Obregon-Perko; Ann Chahroudi; Hsuan-Yuan Wang; Sallie R Permar; Charlotte E Hotchkiss; Thaddeus G Golos; Lakshmi Rajagopal; Kristina M Adams Waldorf Journal: Front Genet Date: 2021-07-05 Impact factor: 4.599