TEMPORAL-DEPENDENT AND HORMONE-DEPENDENT CHANGES IN UTERINE SENSITIZATION FOR THE DECIDUAL CELL REACTION AND DECIDUALIZATION IN-VITRO OF RAT ENDOMETRIAL STROMAL CELLS
Tg. Kennedy et He. Ross, TEMPORAL-DEPENDENT AND HORMONE-DEPENDENT CHANGES IN UTERINE SENSITIZATION FOR THE DECIDUAL CELL REACTION AND DECIDUALIZATION IN-VITRO OF RAT ENDOMETRIAL STROMAL CELLS, Journal of Reproduction and Fertility, 109(1), 1997, pp. 129-136
The ability of endometrial stromal cells from nonsensitized rat uteri
to undergo decidualization in vitro was investigated. Cells were obtai
ned by enzymatic dispersion from uteri of ovariectomized, steroid-trea
ted rats at the equivalent of day 4, 5 or 6 of pseudopregnancy, or on
day 5 from rats treated with 0, 0.3 or 1.0 mu g oestradiol (low, inter
mediate or high doses of oestradiol, respectively) on day 4, and cultu
red for 24, 48 or 72 h. Decidualization in vivo, as assessed by uterin
e mass 5 days after the unilateral intrauterine injection of 100 mu l
sesame oil, was maximal for rats receiving the deciduogenic stimulus o
n day 5 and treated with the intermediate dose of oestradiol. Under co
ntrol conditions in vitro, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, the in
crease in ALP activity with time, and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) accu
mulation in the medium were greatest for cells from maximally sensitiz
ed uteri. Indomethacin, an inhibitor of PG synthesis, reduced PGE(2) a
ccumulation to barely detectable amounts, and decreased ALP activity,
especially in cells from maximally sensitized uteri, indicating that e
ndogenous PG production contributed to the increase in ALP activity in
these cells. The addition of PGE(2), with indomethacin increased ALP
activities. However, ALP activities were lower for cells derived from
nonsensitized uteri when compared with cells from maximally sensitized
uteri. These results suggest that endometrial stromal cells from nons
ensitized uteri have a reduced capacity to undergo decidualization in
vitro, and that this reduced capacity is not explained by differences
in PGE(2) production.