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Nerve growth factor (NGF) and NGF mRNA change in rat uterus during pregnancy
F G Varol1, A M Duchemin, N H Neff
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Trakya University, Edirine, Turkey.
Abstract:
During pregnancy, the uterus undergoes a profound sympathetic denervation. To explore whether this is associated with changes in neurotrophic factors, we assayed nerve growth factor (NGF) and NGF mRNA in the uterus of non-pregnant and pregnant rats. In the uterine horn, the concentration of NGF and its mRNA decreased during middle and late pregnancy. However, when values were corrected for the increase of uterine weight and total RNA yield during pregnancy, NGF content and mRNA per horn increased during middle and late pregnancy. Similar, but less pronounced, changes were observed in the cervix. By seven days postpartum, both parameters returned to near normal.