title: Sugar expressions on the vaginal epithelium in pregnant mice.
abstract: Sugar expressions were examined on the epithelium of both the middle portion of the vagina and the vaginal portion of the cervical canal (CC) in pregnant mice to understand the pathogenesis of bacterial infection in the female reproductive organ by using a panel of lectins. As a result, N-acetylglucosamine was positive before pregnant day (P) 7 but negative after P10 and at diestrus on both the vagina and the CC. In addition, some differences in sugar expressions were seen between them. These results suggest that sugar expressions on the mucosal surface would change not only site-specifically but also time-dependently, and these sugar differences indicate the possibility of the alteration of the settled bacterial species on the vaginal mucosa in pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 680-8553, Japan.
authors.forename: Youhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasunaga
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimokawa
authors.forename: Motowo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nabeta
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsuu
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohta
mesh_terms: D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000737:chemistry*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D013997:Time Factors; D014621:Vagina / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D037102:Lectins; D000117:Acetylglucosamine