Summary
The effect of progesterone and oestrogen on the central uterine stroma has been examined in order to analyze what changes occur when the uterus is hormonally prepared for implantation.
Both progesterone and oestrogen, when given separately, cause nucleolar enlargement and growth of the granular endoplasmic reticulum. However, after progesterone treatment the nuclei are large and spherical whereas they are spindle-shaped after oestrogen treatment. When oestrogen is administered to the progesterone-treated rat little change occurs in the stromal morphology.
There is little morphological support to the view that oestrogen acts on the stroma to increase endometrial sensitivity. Further, progesterone seems to stimulate the synthesis of RNA and of cellular protein only in the stromal cell while oestrogen has a similar effect in all cell types of the uterus.
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Ljungkvist, I. Uterine stromal morphology of the spayed, virgin rat when prepared with progesterone and oestrogen for implantation. Z. Anat. Entwickl. Gesch. 141, 161–169 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00519883
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00519883