Expression of the Androgen Receptor in the Uterus of the Rabbit During Pregnancy: An Immunohistochemical Study

It is unknown how the androgen receptor (AR) is distributed on basal cells, immune cells, telocytes, interstitium, and vascular structures throughout pregnancy. At 7 days of pregnancy, the uterine lining epithelium exhibited a spectrum of immunoreactivity to AR, varying from mild to strong. The epithelium lining the uterine glands showed moderate AR immunoreactivity. Furthermore, strong AR immunoreactivity was observed on multiple cell types inside the lamina propria, including fibroblasts and telocytes, blood cells, and the endothelium of lymphatic vessels, arteries, capillaries, and veins. AR exhibited strong immunostaining in the interstitium, blood plasma, and lymph. The myometrial smooth muscle fibres, telocytes, lymphocytes, fibroblasts, blood cells, endothelium of arteries, blood plasma, lymph, and interstitium exhibited strong and distinct AR immunostaining. The perimetrium mesothelium, lymphocytes, fibroblasts, and interstitium exhibited strong immunoreactivity to AR. AR immunoreactivity exhibited strong intensity in the uterine lining epithelium, the glandular lining epithelium, the endothelium of the arteries, and the interstitium at 14 days of pregnancy. Immunostaining for AR varies in intensity, from mild to strong, in the smooth muscle fibres of the myometrium. AR immunostaining showed high intensity in myometrial fibroblasts, the endothelium of arteries, blood cells, and the interstitium. The perimetrium, mesothelium, fibroblast, immune cells, endothelium of the arteries, and interstitium exhibited strong androgen receptor (AR) immunostaining. The findings of our study indicate that the occurrence and intensity of AR immunostaining in the rabbit's uterus varied across several structural compartments during the early and mid-stages of pregnancy.