HISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS USING LECTIN IN THE MOUSE UTERINE TISSUES WITHEXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED ADENOMYOSIS

Transplantation of a single anterior pituitary into the uterine lumen is known to induce the development of adenomyosis in mice associated w ith hyperprolactinemia. The uterine tissues of experimentally-induced adenomyosis were investigated histochemically with 21 kinds of biotiny lated lectins and compared to control tissues of both intact mice and mice one day after parturition. Glandular and luminal epithelial cells and lymphocytes showed different lectin staining patterns between ade nomyotic uteri and intact ones, whereas endometrial stromal cells and myometrial cells showed no differences. Even uteri at a very early sta ge of the pathological disorder already had changes in their lectin bi nding pattern. Some lectin groups had a different staining pattern bet ween adenomyotic uteri and intact ones. Among them, some showed a simi lar pattern between adenomyotic uteri and uteri after delivery, and th e others showed a different pattern between them. The former groups we re closely related to an elevated level of circulating prolactin, and the latter to a pathological change in adenomyosis. This is the first evidence which shows that experimentally-induced adenomyosis involves substantial changes even at a very early stage of the pathogenesis.