We monitored dynamics of stem water deficit (ΔW) and needle water potential (Ψ) during two consecutive growing seasons (2011 and 2012) in a dry inner Alpine environment (750 m above sea level, Tyrol, Austria), where Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies and Larix decidua form mixed stands. ΔW was extracted from stem circumference variations, which were continuously recorded by electronic band dendromet...

INTRODUCTION Extracellular matrix proteins play a crucial role in influencing the invasion of trophoblast cells. However the role of collagens and collagen type IV (col-IV) in particular at the implantation site is not clear. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the distribution of collagen types I, III, IV and VI in endometrium and decidua during the menstrual cycle and the fir...

The aim of the present study was to explore the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in the maternal umbilical serum, placenta and decidua of patients with preeclampsia compared with those in normotensive pregnant females. A total of 73 pregnant females were recruited as the test subjects, including 43 inpatients with hypertensive dis...

Background and Objectives: Capparis decidua is a plant used in herbal medicine. This study was carried out to assess effects of C. decidua hydroalcoholic extract on blood glucose, lipid profile and leptin in male rats with high-cholesterol diets. Materials and Methods: Totally, 40 Wistar-albino male rats with 200–250 g weight were equally divided into one control (C) and three experimental gro...

The maternal part of the placenta, the decidua, consists of maternal immune cells, decidual stromal cells, and extravillous fetal trophoblasts. In a successful pregnancy, these cell compartments interact to provide an intricate balance between fetal tolerance and antimicrobial defense. These processes are still poorly characterized in the two anatomically different decidual tissues, basalis and...

Picea abies and Larix decidua were subjected to GC/MS analyses, and antimicrobial (fungi and bacteria) assays of their stem wood and bark extracts were investigated. L. decidua bark extract exhibited the highest antifungal and antibacterial activities against the microorganisms that were screened. The microbes Penecillium ochrochloron and Aspergillus ochraceus were the most sensitive to the ext...

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare whether the explant supernatants prepared from endometrial tissues during the proliferative phase, secretory phase and early pregnancy differ in immunosuppressive activity. Specimens of nonpregnant endometrium from hysterectomies and normal first trimester decidua following elective aspiration termination of pregnancy were obtained. ...

I NVASION of the uterine surface by the chorionic villi is Iimited by protective eIements in the decidua basalis. Wislockr has shown the presence of a mucopoIysaccharide in the decidua that serves to limit trophobIastic erosion of maternal tissue. Microscopic sections from most cases of placenta accreta show an absence of the decidua basaIis and atrophy of the decidua Vera. The degree of invasi...

Genital tract bacterial infections could induce abortion and are some of the most common complications of pregnancy; however, the mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated the role of prostaglandins (PGs) in the mechanism of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pregnancy loss in a mouse model, and we hypothesized that PGs might play a central role in this action. LPS increased PG product...

We aimed to investigate the expression of suppressors cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygense (IDO) and to analyse the relationship of SOCS3 and TGF-β with IDO expression in early pregnancy chorionic villi and decidua in the maternal-fetal interface. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical method were used to detect the expression of ...