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Related Experiment Videos

Cervical stroma apoptosis in pregnancy.

A D Allaire1, N D'Andrea, P Truong

  • 1Divisions of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Obstetrics and Gynecology
|March 10, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, increases significantly in the cervix during pregnancy and labor. This cellular process may be key to cervical remodeling and changes observed during childbirth.

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Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Biology
  • Cellular Biology
  • Gynecology

Background:

  • Cervical remodeling is essential for pregnancy progression and labor.
  • The cellular mechanisms underlying cervical changes during pregnancy and labor are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of apoptosis in cervical stromal cells.
  • To compare the percentage of apoptotic nuclei in the cervix of pregnant laboring women, pregnant non-laboring women, and non-pregnant women.

Main Methods:

  • Cervical stromal biopsies were obtained from three groups: pregnant laboring women, pregnant non-laboring women, and non-pregnant women.
  • Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining was used to identify apoptotic nuclei.
  • Ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LM-PCR) was employed to detect nucleosomal DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of apoptosis.

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Main Results:

  • The median percentage of apoptotic nuclei was significantly higher in pregnant non-laboring women (7.5%) and pregnant laboring women (11.6%) compared to non-pregnant women (0.7%).
  • Apoptotic nuclei percentage differed significantly across all three study groups (P <.001).
  • Nucleosomal ladders, indicative of apoptosis, were detected in pregnant women's cervical specimens but not in non-pregnant women's, confirming increased stromal apoptosis during pregnancy.

Conclusions:

  • Apoptosis of cervical stromal cells increases during pregnancy and labor.
  • This increased apoptosis likely contributes to cervical remodeling and the physiological changes observed during pregnancy and childbirth.