Usefulness of a new tactile sensor for measurement of uterine cervical ripening in mice in a quantitative and noninvasive manner.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to establish a method with a new tactile sensor for determining in a quantitative and noninvasive manner the extent of uterine cervical ripening.


METHODS
We used a newly designed tactile sensor to measure the softness of the cervix in untreated nonpregnant, pregnant, parturient, and nursing mice and then on day 15 of gestation in pregnant mice treated with dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate or Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. Additionally, to elucidate the correlation between the extent of cervical softness and its morphologic changes, we observed microscopically the uterine cervices.


RESULTS
The hardness of the murine cervix decreased with the progression of pregnancy and became minimal at delivery. We demonstrated for the first time with a tactile sensor for measuring hardness that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and lipopolysaccharide significantly decreased the stiffness of the murine cervix. These findings were supported by the morphologic observations on the cervices.


CONCLUSIONS
These results show that the tactile sensor for measuring hardness makes it possible to determine the extent of cervical ripening quantitatively rather than qualitatively. We consider that cervical ripening determined objectively in this manner is a good parameter to predict the onset of preterm delivery.
Kaga
N
N
Toxicology Laboratory, Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Shizuoka, Japan.
Katsuki
Y
Y
Kakinuma
C
C
Obata
M
M
Shibutani
Y
Y
Omata
S
S
D000818:Animals; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology; D004566:Electrodes; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D011247:Pregnancy; D014110:Touch; D014159:Transducers
D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate