title: PCNA-immunoreactivity in the uterus of rats after treatment with the antiestrogen tamoxifen.
abstract: We used an antibody to the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) to investigate the effect of the long-term administration of tamoxifen on proliferative activity in the uterus of mature rats. Untreated cycling and ovariectomized rats served as controls. The PCNA labelling indices (PI) and the mitotic indices (MI) were estimated for the luminal and glandular epithelium and for the stromal fibroblasts. A strong correlation was found for PI and MI in the luminal and in the glandular epithelium, and a lower, but also significant correlation, for the endometrial stroma cells. Tamoxifen treatment decreased the PI of the luminal epithelial cells and of the stroma as much as ovariectomy. In both of these groups, the proportion of anti-PCNA positive cells in the glandular epithelium was significantly higher than in the luminal epithelium. These data indicate that tamoxifen has a strong antiproliferative effect on the uterus of mature rats, and that this antiestrogenic action is cell type specific.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Anatomie, Medizinischen Universität zu Lübeck.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rumpel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Michna
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kühnel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects; D004971:Estrus / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D010052:Ovariectomy; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D013629:Tamoxifen