Uterine horn

Pregnant females were sacrificed by carbon dioxide anesthesia on day 21 of gestation the uterine horns were exteriorized through a midline incision in the abdominal wall, and the number and position of live, dead, and resorbed fetuses were noted. After being weighed and sexed, the fetuses were examined for external anomalies the crown-rump length was measured with a vernier caliper. Half of each litter was preserved in Bouin s solution and later examined for soft tissue anomalies (16) the other half was preserved in alcohol, cleared and stained with Alizarin red-S, and examined for skeletal abnormalities (2). 

Ponnamperuma, R. M., Kirchhof, S. M., Trifiletti, L., and De Luca, L. M. (1999). Ovariectomy increases squamous metaplasia of uterine horns and survival SENCAR mice fed a vitamin A-deficient diet. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 70, 502-508. 

ApA2 values represent the negative log to the base 10 of the average concentration (M) of an antagonist which will reduce the response of the uterine horn 2X units of pharmacologically active compound (agonist) to X units of the agonist. 

The number of corpora lutea in each ovary is recorded. This number should equal or exceed the total number of implants in the corresponding uterine horn. Where fewer corpora lutea than implants are counted, the count should be double-checked. 

Slott and Hales (1985) laparotomized pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats on day 13 of gestation and the uterus was exposed. Each embryo in one uterine horn received an intraamniotic injection of acrylic acid in 0.9% NaCl at doses of up to 1000 Lg per fetus. The contralateral embryos received equivalent volumes of saline. The uterus was repositioned in the dam and the incision sutured. Dams were sacrificed on day 20 of gestation and the fetuses scored for survival, resorptions and external malformations. No significant increase in fetal malformations was observed, although a dose of 1000 (but not 100) j,g per fetus enhanced the number of dead or resorbed fetuses significantly. 

Montesino, H., Villar, M., Vega, E., Rudolph, M.I., 1995. Histamine, a neuromodulator of noradrenergic transmission in uterine horns from mice in diestrus. Biochem. Pharmacol. 50, 407-411. 

Tin does not appear to readily cross the placenta. At 10 days of gestation, tin was not found in the uterine horns or combined fetuses and placentas in rats following daily ingestion of 20 mg tin/kg/day as SnF2 or SnF (Hiles 1974). Flowever, at 21 days, fetuses of dams administered 20 mg/kg/day as SnF2 contained very low levels of tin. The detection of low levels and the absence of developmental effects suggest placental restriction of tin transfer to the fetus. 

Remove the ovary, oviduct, and a small portion of the uterine horn and place in the dish containing PBS from one female at a time (see Note 12). 

Histamine receptors have been classified into two major subtypes, H, and H2, on the basis of quantitative studies on isolated peripheral tissues. Histamine H,-receptors mediate the contractile actions of histamine on numerous visceral smooth muscles, most notably from the trachea, ileum and uterus of the guinea-pig [36-39]. These responses are antagonized by the classical -antihistamines [36-39] such as mepyramine (1) [36] and diphenhydramine (3) [40] (see Figure 2.1). Histamine also stimulates the secretion of acid by stomach, increases the rate of contraction of guinea-pig isolated atria and inhibits electrically evoked contractions of rat isolated uterine horn [41 ]. However, these responses are not affected by H, -receptor antagonists and have been defined as histamine H2-receptor responses following the development of specific antagonists to these responses such as burimamide [41], cimetidine [42] and ranitidine [43]. The distribution and classification of histamine H,-and H2-receptors in various mammalian peripheral tissues have been reviewed elsewhere [44-46a]. 

Hematocrits done on blood pooled from fetuses of one uterine horn. 

Bums, J. et al.. Reduction of post-surgical adhesion formation in rabbit uterine horn model with use of hyaluronate/carbox5miefhyl cellulose gel, Fertil. Steril., 69, 415, 1998. 

Another useful but less frequently employed assay was developed by McGinty, Anderson and McCullou [61] in which immature female rabbits (or spayed adult females) are primed with oestrogen and the test compound instilled directly into the lumen of the uterus. The contralateral uterine horn is treated with the vehicle alone and serves as a control. In the related Hooker-Forbes assay [62, 63] the test substance is instilled into the ligated segment of the uterine horn of the castrated female mouse. 

After treatment with an aqueous extract of meadowsweet, an increase in the tone and force of contractions was observed in smooth muscle sections of the uterine horns of rats, cats, and guinea pigs (Barnaulov et al. 1978). The relevance of such in vitro studies to human use is not known. 

Mice and rats have both a right and left uterine horn, each comprised of several uterine swellings, that meet at the cervix (see Fig. 1). Gently remove the uterine... 

Fig. 1. Method for introducing recombinant retrovirus into the mid-gestation rat embryo. (A) To expose the uterine horns a midline incision is made through the skin and muscle layers of the abdomen of an anesthetized rat. In this figure three uterine swellings of the right uterine horn are diagrammed. In utero the orientation of the embryos is variable. (B) An enlargement of one uterine swelling illustrating the placement of a micropipet in the right lateral ventricle of an embryonic d 16 rat. Shaded area represents the placenta. (Reproduced with permission from Luskin, 1992.)...

The total number of pups should be counted after the pregnant dam has given birth to the injected embryos. Often, fewer pups are born than the number of embryos that were injected. Moreover, one can not correlate individual pups with the number they were assigned prenatally at the time of surgery unless the injection site was substantially different (i.e., right hemisphere vs left hemisphere, or big differences in the volume of retrovirus injected). If the injected animals are retrieved at a later embryonic time point, individual injected animals can be distinguished by their position along each uterine horn. 

Fig. 4.4a,b. A 33-year-old female patient with a history of partially resected longitudinal vaginal septum. Transverse oblique T2-weighted MR images (a) show complete duplication of the uterine horns (arrows), as well as two duplicated cervices (arrowheads). The cavities show their normal zonal anatomy. Note the longitudinal vaginal septum (b) which appears in 75% of uterus didelphys... 

Congenital abnormalities of the fallopian tubes are also extremely rare. As in the ovaries, they present more likely a sequelae of torsion or an inflammatory process. Tubes may be partially atretic or hypoplastic and associated with uterine abnormalities such as rudimentary uterine horn or bicornuate uterus. In infertility patients exposed to diethylstilbestrol, short sacciflated or dilated fallopian tubes have been reported [21]. 

Fig. 16.19a,b. Class IV. HSG shows widely splayed uterine horns with an intercornual angle greater than lOOYand with uterine fundi joined at the lower uterine segment, indicating a bicornis unicollis subtype (a). HSG in a different patient shows uterine fundi joined at the level of the cervix, suggesting a bicornis bicollis subtype (b)... 

Defined lesions were formed in rats by abrading the surface of the uterine horn and the adjacent sidewall. The injured tissues were kept in close proximity to each other by suturing the uterine horn to the side wall (Leach, 1990 Rice, 1993). Application of formulations containing poloxamer 407 to the injured tissues reduced adhesion formation by 30% to 55%. 

Leach, R.E. and Henry, R.L. (1990) Reduction of postoperative adhesions in the rat uterine horn model with poloxamer 407. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 162(5), 1317-1319. 

Rice, V.M., Shanti, A., Moghissi, K.S. and Leach, R.E. (1993) A comparative evaluation of poloxamer 407 and oxidized regenerated cellulose (Interceed [TC7]) to reduce postoperative adhesion formation in the rat uterine horn model. Fertility and Sterility, 59(4), 901-906. 

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