title: Presence of a blastocyst and mast cell depletion of the mouse uterus.
abstract: The mast cell population has been studied during early decidualization of the mouse uterus. The number increases in early pregnancy until the attachment phase when a sharp depletion is noticed. This fall has been correlated with stimuli of maternal origin, but at the same time the presence of a blastocyst at the presumptive implantation sites seems to exert a significant effect on the depletion of mast cells. A relationship between the number of mast cells in the uterus and the physiological state of the organ has definitely been established [Harvey, 1964; Likar and Likar, 1964; Gibbons and Chang, 1972; Brandon and Evans, 1983]. The number of mast cells in the pregnant uterus is known to decrease around the time of implantation in the rat [Shelesnyak, 1960; De Feo, 1967; Brandon and Bibby, 1979]. Several workers believe that the mast cell population and histamine content decrease as a result of a rise in circulating estrogen [Westin, 1955; Gibbons and Chang, 1972; Spaziani, 1975]. In the present communication the possibility of a relationship between the decrease in mast cell population and the presence of a blastocyst, whose estrogenic role has been reported [Dickmann and Dey, 1973; Dickmann et al., 1975; Sengupta et al., 1977], in the uterine horn has been discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Ranchi University, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hore
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Mehrotra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002452:Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D011247:Pregnancy; D014599:Uterus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens