Concentration of glycosaminoglycan in ovariectomized mice uterus after treatment with ovarian steroids

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount of non- and sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the ovariectomized mice uterus, after treatment with ovarian steroids. For this purpose, 50 adult female mice were divided into five groups with 10 animals/each: control group: CG (ovary intact), and ovariectomized groups: OG (vehicle), EG (estradiol), PG (progesterone) and EPG (estradiol combined to progesterone). The treatments started 30 days after ovariectomy. All the animals were treated for 50 consecutive days. These hormones were administered in a sterile oily solution via gavage. Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, all animals were euthanized, removing the uterine horn for biochemical analyses. To quantify, the hyaluronic acid (HA) used ELISA-like fluorometric assay, and the sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) used agarose gel electrophoresis. The amount of HA was significantly higher in the group treated with progesterone (PG) compared to the others groups (p < 0.05), and in the group treated with estradiol (EG), the amount of chondroitin/dermatan sulfate was significantly higher compared to the others groups (p < 0.05), and in the group treated with progesterone (PG), the amount of heparan sulfate was significantly lower compared to the others groups, except to control group (p < 0.05). Our results showed that the estroprogestative therapy after long time (50 days) profoundly affected the amount of glycosaminoglycans in uterine. These changes may be indicative of uterine pathology such as the development of tumor.

Chinese abstract

本实验的目的是评估去卵巢小鼠卵巢甾体激素治疗后子宫内的非硫酸化和硫酸化的糖胺聚糖浓度。为了这个目的, 50只成年雌鼠被分为五组, 每组10只: 对照组: CG（卵巢完好）和去卵巢组: OG（空白干预）组, EG（雌二醇）组, PG（黄体酮）组和EPG（雌二醇结合黄体酮）组。在去除卵巢后的30天开始治疗, 所有动物被连续服药50天。用无菌油溶解这些激素进行灌胃。最后一次治疗后24小时, 对所有动物实施安乐死并去除子宫角以进行生物化学分析。量化透明质酸（HA）用酶联免疫荧光测定, 硫酸化的糖胺聚糖（GAGs）使用琼脂糖凝胶电泳。在使用黄体酮（PG）治疗的组中, HA的含量相比于其他组有明显提高（p < 0.05）, 雌二醇（EG）治疗组中, 软骨素/硫酸皮肤素含量相比于其他组有明显提高（p < 0.05）, 黄体酮（PG）治疗组中, 硫酸乙酰肝素含量相比于除控制组外的其他组有明显降低(p < 0.05)。我们的结果表明长期（50天）雌孕激素治疗后明显影响了子宫中糖胺聚糖的含量。这些改变或许对子宫病理如肿瘤的进展有指示作用。

• Hyaluronic acid
• ovarian steroids
• sulfated glycosaminoglycans

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article. Foundation for Research Support of São Paulo (FAPESP), Grant number 2009/52758-9.