title: Glycosaminoglycan profiles in the uterus of adult ovariectomized rats treated with estrogen and progestagen.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of conjugated equine estrogens (CE) alone or in combination with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the cervix and horns of the rat uterus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty days after ovariectomy, adult rats were randomly divided into four groups: GI, control (treated with drug vehicle); GII, CE (50 μg/kg per day); GIII, MPA (0.2mg/kg per day), and GIV, CE+MPA (doses as in GII and GIII). Drugs and vehicle were given by gavage during 28 days. Afterwards the animals were anesthetized, the cervix and uterine horns were dissected out and the middle portion fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution; other portions were fixed in acetone for histological examination and glycosaminoglycan quantification, respectively. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used for sulfated GAG analyses, and hyaluronic acid was assayed with an ELISA-like method. Statistical analysis was done by the Student's t test and the Tukey-Kramer test (P<0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cervix and uterine horn structures presented signs of atrophy in the control group (GI). The other groups, mainly groups III and IV, had histological aspects of proliferation. In all groups the concentration of sulfated GAGs (especially dermatan sulfate) was higher than that of non-sulfated GAGs, both in cervix and in uterine horns. Estrogens increased sulfated GAG concentration at the cervix and the horn, whereas in uterine horns the amounts of sulfated GAGs were decreased after estrogens plus MPA treatment. The concentration of hyaluronic acid in uterine horns was higher than in cervices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The profiling and amounts of glycosaminoglycans in the two portions of the rat uterus are uneven. Dermatan sulfate occurs in higher concentrations in both cervix and uterine horns. Sulfated GAGs in rat cervix were increased by estrogens plus MPA, but were decreased by MPA alone in uterine horns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Gynecology Division, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), Av Dr Eneas de Carvalho Aguiar 255, ICHC floor #10, 05403-000 São Paulo, Brazil. ricardo.simoes@amb.org.br
authors.forename: Ricardo Santos
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.forename: Ricardo Martins
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Oliveira-Filho
authors.forename: Helena Bonciani
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Nader
authors.forename: Edmund Chada
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Baracat
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D003871:Dermatan Sulfate / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004966:Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006736:Horses; D017258:Medroxyprogesterone Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011372:Progestins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D014599:Uterus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004966:Estrogens, Conjugated (USP); D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D011372:Progestins; D003871:Dermatan Sulfate; D017258:Medroxyprogesterone Acetate