Immunophenotypical characterization of lymphocyte subpopulations of the uterus of non-pregnant and pregnant goats.
The increased susceptibility during pregnancy to certain pathogens that cause abortions may be related to changes in the distribution and phenotype of lymphocyte subpopulations in the uterus. Histological, electron microscopic and immunocytochemical techniques were used in this study to examine whether such variations occur in different stages of the reproductive cycle of goats. The study of non-pregnant goats showed that most uterine lymphocytes were T cells and displayed both an intraepithelial and stromal distribution. CD8+ T lymphocytes were more numerous than CD4+ T lymphocytes. In the endometrial epithelium two lymphocyte subpopulations were observed: non-granulated CD2+ CD8+ T lymphocytes and granulated CD2+ CD8- T lymphocytes. During gestation, no lymphocytes were observed in the placentomal area, while a decreased number of T lymphocyte subpopulations were found in the inter-placentomal area. In the inter-caruncular epithelium, non-granulated CD2+ CD8+ T lymphocytes disappeared, whereas the granulated CD2+ CD8- T lymphocyte subpopulations increased their number and changed their morphology.
Departamento de Anatomía y Anatomía Patológica Comparadas, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain. cmmarti@um.es
C M
CM
Martínez
A J
AJ
Buendía
J
J
Sánchez
J A
JA
Navarro
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000662:veterinary; D018655:Lymphocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000145:classification*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000166:cytology*