title: Estrogen Replacement Regulates Vaginal Innervations in Ovariectomized Adult Virgin Rats: A Histological Study.
abstract: Background. Our previous Gräfenberg spot findings confirmed that the distal-third areas of the anterior vaginal wall bore a significantly greater number of nerves and sexual hormone may have certain degree of influence on these significant differences. However, the role of estrogen in vaginal innervations remains controversial.Methods. To investigate whether hormonal-neural interactions occur in the vagina, sixty rats were randomly divided into six groups: Sham-operated, ovariectomy, and 4 treatment groups. After 2 weeks of treatment, vaginal biopsies were prepared with hematoxylin and eosin and PGP9.5 using immunohistochemistry.Results. The density of small nerve fibers was significantly higher in the distal-half areas of intact vaginal walls than the proximal-half areas (P= 0.001). In contrast, the overall PGP 9.5-ir fiber innervation density was significantly decreased in the OVX rats subjected to surgical menopause. Sustained estrogen administration for 2 weeks resulted in nerve fiber proliferation, with values reaching normal levels in the low-dose estradiol valerate group.Conclusion. Our findings indicate that systemic hormonal therapy with low-dose estradiol valerate is effective and safe for treating deficient vaginal innervation caused by low level of estrogen activity in menopausal women and may aid studies to identify an optimal estradiol dose to provide relief from vaginal discomfort.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Animal Center Laboratory, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.affiliation: Animal Center Laboratory, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Yongyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6527-1405
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000282:Administration, Intravaginal; D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D004967:Estrogens / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010052:Ovariectomy; D051381:Rats; D014621:Vagina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D004958:Estradiol