The rat uterus is an important female reproductive organ that has essential for the organism's reproduction. That is why it is necessary to understand all the rat uterus' morphological features as a perfect biomodel for studying the molecular peculiarities of the female reproductive system and pathologies development in experimental studies.
Aim: The aim of research was to perform the comprehensive morphological analysis of the uterine in intact female rats.
Materials and methods: The uterine of reproductive-aged intact female rats were used in this research. The cytological study of vaginal smears, histological (H and E), and immunohistochemical (estrogen, progesterone, and Ki-67 receptors) analysis of uterus tissues were used for light microscopic examination.
Results: The rat's vaginal smears' cytological features showed a specific qualitative cellular composition (variation of leukocytes, nucleated and anucleated cornified epithelial cells) in different estrous cycle phases (proestrus, estrus, metestrus, and diestrus). Uterine histology showed the structural regularities of parenchymal and stromal components with clear differentiation on the endometrium, myometrium and perimetrium. It was presented uterus sensitivity to the influence of the sex hormones (positive to estrogen and progesterone receptors) and the variable cellular proliferation activity (Ki-67 expression) in the organ wall.
Conclusions: Our research demonstrated that the rats« uterus has a unique structural organization, sex hormones sensitivity, and variable proliferation in the parenchymal and stromal components. The rat estrous cycle should be considered while studying the morphological features of the uterus. The rat's uterus may serve as an acceptable object for modeling various pathological processes with the following results' extrapolation.
Keywords: Uterus; estrous cycle; estrus; hormone receptors; rat; reproductive system.
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