Endometrial effects of levonorgestrel and estradiol: A Scanning electron microscopic study of the luminal epithelium.
Fertile women in the follicular phase possessed an uterine luminal surface with many ciliated cells and with non-ciliated cells, which carried numerous, fairly long microvilli. A moderate number of the non-ciliated cells had an irregular surface with small apical protrusions. Postmenopausal women had an endometrial surface containing rather flat cells. Ciliated cells were seldon encountered, and the non-ciliated cells possessed mostly only few short microvilli. When menopausal women had been wearing estradiol-containing intravaginal rings for three weeks, the uterine surface had developed many ciliated cells, and the non-ciliated cells now possessed many long microvilli. This appearance resembles that appearing during the follicular phase. Fertile women with levonorgestrel-containing subdermal implants or intravaginal rings showed a surface epithelium with few ciliated cells and with non-ciliated cells possessing short and irregular microvilli; that is, an epithelium less developed than that from a cyclic women. Adding estradiol to the levonorgestrel-containing intravaginal rings resulted in an estrogen response with an increase in number and length of the microvilli and an appearance of a few small apical protrusions.
D004717:Endometrium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016912:Levonorgestrel; D008598:Menstruation; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009644:Norgestrel / Q000494:pharmacology*
D004967:Estrogens; D009644:Norgestrel; D004958:Estradiol; D016912:Levonorgestrel