Abstract
Uterine aging is in part responsible for a decline in fecundity which begins in middle age in most mammals. Characteristics of uteri from a variety of animals in middle age and old age are reviewed and the factors which may be responsible for this decline discussed. These include age-related changes in the hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovaries; loss of number or function of steroid hormone receptors; morphological changes in the uterine epithelium; the accumulation of collagen fibrils in the uterine stroma; and loss or impairment of the decidual response. The ultrastructural morphology of uterine epithelial, stromal, and decidual tissue from 4 month old and 18 month old Fischer 344 rats is presented and compared.
| Original language | Undefined |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 148-168 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Microscopy Research and Technique |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1993 |
Keywords
- collagen
- steroid hormone
- steroid receptor, aged
- aging
- animal tissue
- cell junction
- controlled study
- decidualization
- female
- hypothalamus hypophysis gonad system
- infertility
- nidation
- nonhuman
- ovary function
- priority journal
- rat
- receptor density
- reproduction
- review
- stroma cell
- ultrastructure
- uterus, Aging
- Animal
- Collagen
- Comparative Study
- Female
- Human
- Rats
- Rats, Inbred F344
- Sex Hormones
- Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
- Uterus, Animalia
- Mammalia
- Rodentia