The endometrium is a dynamic tissue that responds to hormonal cues and growth factors to accommodate, regulate, and nurture developing embryos. To provide clues about the molecular mechanisms underlying the responsiveness of this tissue, we have begun to identify genes that are expressed at specific stages of early pregnancy. One such gene, apolipoprotein J (apoJ), encodes a secretory glycoprot...

Uterine smooth muscle function is established, but comparatively little is known about cervical smooth muscle pharmacology. We performed a proof-of-principle experiment that smooth muscle was expressed in the cervix in both virgin and pregnant rats, using the uterus as a comparator. We tested whether all tissues were pharmacologically responsive to contractile and relaxant agonists. Immunohisto...

OBJECTIVE To study the activity of the human uterine cervix at the onset of labour and further characterise cervical asynchronous electromyographic (EMG) activity in the latent phase. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Clinical hospital in Ljubljana. PARTICIPANTS Forty-seven healthy nulliparous women with relatively unripe cervices requiring induction of labo...

Human uterine fibroids, benign tumors derived from the smooth muscle layers of the uterus, impose a major health burden to up to 50% of premenopausal women in their daily life. To improve our understanding of this disease, we developed and characterized a patient-derived xenograft model by subcutaneous transplantation of pieces of human uterine fibroid tissue into three different strains of sev...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of uterine smooth muscle tumors depends on a combination of microscopic features. However, a small number of these tumors still pose difficult diagnostic challenges. AIM To investigate progesterone receptor (PR) and p53 expression in leiomyomas (LMs), atypical leiomyomas (ALMs), smooth muscle tumors of uncertain malignant potential (STUMP), and leiomyosarcomas (LMSs) ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate uterine contractility, oxytocin receptor (OTR) expression in myometrial smooth muscle cells (MSMCs) derived from uterine tissues from women with and without adenomyosis correlate OTR expression with uterine contractility and dysmenorrhea severity, and see whether trichostatin A (TSA) and andrographolide inhibit OTR expression. DESIGN Laboratory study using human tissues....

The uterine muscle (the myometrium) plays its most evident role during pregnancy, when quiescence is required for adequate nourishment and development of the foetus, and during labour, when forceful contractions are needed to expel the foetus and the other products of conception. The myometrium is composed of smooth muscle cells. Contraction is initiated by the spontaneous generation of electri...

Uterine crowding in the pig results in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), and permanently affects fetal muscle fibre development, representing production losses for the commercial pig herd. The present study sought to understand how different levels of uterine crowding in sows affects muscle fibre development in the early embryo at the time of muscle fibre differentiation and proliferation...

preterm contraction of uterus is a main cause of miscarriages and preterm labour. euphorbia known as ferphion in iranian traditional medicine texts like al-hawi, is reported for prevention of preterm labour. therefore, the objective of this research was to investigate the effect of euphorbia spinidens bornm. ex prokh. on motility of rat uterus. uterine horns were isolated form non-pregnant fema...