Nerve growth factor (NGF) and NGF mRNA change in rat uterus during pregnancy

During pregnancy, the uterus undergoes a profound sympathetic denervation. To explore whether this is associated with changes in neurotrophic factors, we assayed nerve growth factor (NGF) and NGF mRNA in the uterus of non-pre gnant and pregnant rats. In the uterine horn, the concentration of NGF and its mRNA decreased during middle and late pregnancy. However, when values w ere corrected for the increase of uterine weight and total RNA yield during pregnancy, NGF content and mRNA per horn increased during middle and late pregnancy. Similar, but less pronounced, changes were observed in the cervi x. By seven days postpartum, both parameters returned to near normal. (C) 2 000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.