Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
Assessment of Maternal Vascular Remodeling During Pregnancy in the Mouse Uterus
Published on: December 5, 2015
Decidualized pseudopregnant rat uterus shows marked reduction in Ang II and Ang-(1-7) levels
K B Brosnihan1, M S Bharadwaj, L M Yamaleyeva
1Hypertension and Vascular Research Center, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, United States. bbrosnih@wakehealth.edu
Unlabelled:
Previous studies showed that angiotensin (Ang) II and Ang-(1-7) concentrations were reduced in the implantation site at day 7 of pregnancy in Sprague-Dawley rats as compared to the site immediately adjacent to it, which does not have the embryo attached, clearly showing the importance of the blastocyst in the regulation of renin-angiotensin system (RAS).
Objective:
The objective of this study was to evaluate the regulation of the RAS in the decidualized uterus in the pseudopregnant rat, a model without the presence of a conceptus.
Methods:
Ovariectomized, adult female rats were sensitized for the decidual cell reaction with steroid treatments; decidualization was induced by oil-injection of the right horn; the left horn served as a control. The uterine content of Ang I, Ang II, and Ang-(1-7) was examined in the decidualized and non-decidualized uteri.
Results:
Both Ang-(1-7) and Ang II and ACE and ACE2 mRNA were significantly reduced in the decidualized horn as compared to the non-decidualized horn. Immunocytochemical characterization of Ang II, Ang-(1-7), ACE and ACE2 demonstrated that Ang-(1-7), Ang II, and ACE2 polarize to the anti-mesometrial pole with decidualization.
Conclusion:
The decidualization process elicits marked reduction in uterine Ang II and Ang-(1-7) content as compared to the non-decidualized horn. The differential immunocytochemical expression of Ang II and Ang-(1-7) with ACE2, but not ACE in the anti-mesometrial pole of the decidualized horn may favor the formation and action of Ang-(1-7) in the anti-mesometrial pole, an area which plays a role in triggering the decidualization process.
