Effect of estrogen antibodies on pregnancy in the rat

A function for estriol during human pregnancy--a hypothesis

It has been hypothesized that large amounts of estriol (E3) are produced during human pregnancy to ensure a quiescent uterus during prelabour pregnancy by combining with most of the myometrial nuclear receptors, leaving an inadequate number for a stimulatory estradiol (E2) concentration. It is further hypothesized that the amount of E3 formed is controlled by the amount of E2 present. During labour this control is lost, which together with an increased E2 (plus or minus a simultaneous drop in E3) production permits labour. Two of the seven pieces of evidence offered in support of this hypothesis were carried out in the author's laboratory. These are: 1. Urinary assays by two methods, one for total estrogens and one for the fractionated classical estrogens revealed that while the ratio (formula; see text) varies from patient to patient, for any one patient it remains markedly constant, especially during the second half of pregnancy. 2. Pieces of myometrium removed at cesarean delivery and assayed for their nuclear estrogen content revealed an E3/E2 ratio of 1.7 when the cesarean was an elective one (and therefore with a quiescent uterus) but reduced to 0.65 when the cesarean was performed after labour had started. The relationship between these two pieces of evidence and five from the literature with the hypothesis are discussed.

Proliferative characteristics of epithelial cells in the pregnant rat uterus

In the pregnant rat, killed at about mid gestation and 1 h after injection of tritiated thymidine, 40% of the cells in the epithelium lining the uterine lumen at the implantation site were labelled. Between implantation sites fewer than 20% of the surface epithelial cells were labelled. A series of rats was given tritiated thymidine on day 12 of pregnancy and killed at intervals in the next 30 h. A percentage labelled mitoses analysis of the epithelium between implantation sites (interconceptual) and within the implantation site (conceptual) showed that cells in either region spent 7 h in DNA synthesis and 1-5 h in the G2 + 1/2 MITOSIS PHASES. The epithelial cells in the conceptual region spent 1-5 h in the G1 + 1/2 MITOSIS PHASES WHEREAS CELLS IN INTERCONCEPTual regions spent at least 11-5 h in these phases. The average cycle times of cells in conceptual regions was 10 h: in interconceptual regions minimum cycle time was 20 h and the average appeared to be considerably longer. The grain count of the epithelial cells in the conceptual region was rapidly reduced during the 30 h after injection of tritiated thymidine suggesting successive rounds of cell division. In contrast the grain count distribution of cells in interconceptual regions changed only slowly during this time. The percentage of labelled epithelial cells was determined in the animals killed up to 30 h after injection of tritiated thymidine. In both conceptual and interconceptual regions these percentages increased initially as labelled cells produced labelled progeny. In the conceptual region the increase was not maintained after 7 h as cells initially in G1 divided to give unlabelled progeny. In the interconceptual region the increase in the percentage of labelled cells continued for 14 h; thereafter the percentage did not significantly alter. The interpretation of these results is discussed in relation to the differences in the kinetic characteristics of the epithelial cells in the two regions and in relation to the morphology of the epithelium lining the uterus during pregnancy.