MAST-CELLS IN CERVICAL RIPENING - AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND BIOMECHANICAL STUDY IN RATS

Cervical ripening purportedly involves different cell types and mediat ors normally associated with inflammatory reactions. The purpose of th e present study was to determine the presence of mast cells in rat cer vices during spontaneous and antigestagen induced ripening and to test whether a mast cell stabilizer was able to inhibit the antigestagen i nduced cervical ripening. Immunohistochemical examinations demonstrate d an increased number of mast cells in pregnant and intrapartum rats. Furthermore, mast cell degranulation was found to be prominent after a ntigestagen treatment. The degranulation was completely abolished by c o-treatment with the mast cell stabilizer. Biomechanical analysis show ed that the mast cell stabilizer also inhibited the antigestagen induc ed cervical ripening to some extent. Thus, it is concluded that mast c ell stabilizers might constitute a new approach in the treatment of pr eterm cervical ripening. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.