Electrophysiological Modeling of Uterine Smooth Muscles Cells During Estrus

Uterine activity is regulated by sex hormones, notably progesterone and estrogen. Sex hormones play an important regulatory role in preparing the uterus for pregnancy, which includes an influence on contractile function. Computational models have previously been developed to simulate the electrical and contractile activity of pregnant smooth muscle cells. Here, a non-pregnant cell model which includes estrus stages was developed based on an existing pregnant cell model. The estrus cycle variations are modeled by including the effects of sex hormones on the different ionic currents. Root mean square error was used to quantify differences in the outputs of the pregnant and non-pregnant model at each estrus stage. The error of the membrane potential varied from 1.8 - 2.6 mV depending on the estrus stage, with the metestrus phase being the most similar to late pregnancy. A sensitivity analysis determined that the voltage-gated potassium channel was the most sensitive to sex hormones at each stage of estrus.