The morphometry of the Sudan-III-positive granules in the cytoplasm of the human amniotic epithelium.
Seventy-nine human amnions from different gestational ages were studied by new morphometric methods. The Sudan-III-positive granules in the cytoplasm of the amniotic epithelial cells were first observed in the reflected amnion from the second trimester of normal gestation. During the third trimester of normal gestation, the number of cytoplasmic granules increased remarkably with gestational age not only in the reflected amnion but also in the placental amnion. The number of granules was generally related to the increasing rates of anucleated cells and binucleated cells in the amniotic epithelium during the third trimester of normal gestation. During the third trimester of gestation, the number of granules was greater in the distant reflected amnion with its less adequate blood supply than in the placental amnion. A vast accumulation of the granules in the entire amnion was observed in cases of fetal death, in which blood supply had ceased. It is suggested, therefore, that the progressive accumulation of Sudan-III-positive cytoplasmic granules in the human amniotic epithelium during the third trimester of normal gestation is the result of cell degeneration.
D000650:Amnion / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000032:analysis / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000473:pathology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D013194:Staining and Labeling