Human cervical mucus. I. Rheologic characteristics

The viscoelastic properties of human cervical mucus were subjected to detailed characterization by microrheometry. An introduced to the range of parameters that can be measured and the sensitivity of microroheometry to variations in mucus viscoelasticity was presented, along with an interpretation of results obtained by this approach. Fresh cervical mucus samples were shown to be rheologically heterogeneous, reflecting compositional differences in situ. Mucas viscoelasticity was stable for several hours when samples were stored at ambient temperature in the microrheometer sample holder. Mucus viscoelasticity was strongly dependent upon nondialyzable solids (NDS) concentration. In order to eliminate (NDS) as a variable in comparative studies of mucus, procedures were developed for reconstitution of mucus at identical (NDS) or for normalization of viscoelasticity data derived from fresh samples to 2.5% NDS. The validity of this approach was then examined by applying these procedures to mucus collected during the follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases of the normal menstrual cycle.