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Abstract
Despite the evidence for a functional role of nitric oxide (NO) in the regulation
of uterine contractility in several species, there is little information about the
effects of this gas on the mouse uterus. The aims of this study were to investigate
if the NO relaxation pathway is present in mouse pregnant uterus and the relationship
with the uterotonic prostaglandins (PGs E and F2α) production. We evaluated the effect of the treatment with a competitive nitric oxide
synthase (NOs) inhibitor: NG-monomethyl-L-arginine on the spontaneous contractile activity and prostaglandin production
on two different days of pregnancy: second day of pregnancy (preimplantation stage)
and on the afternoon of the fifth day of pregnancy (postimplantation stage). We found
that only on the fifth day of pregnancy did the inhibitor induce a highly significant
isometric developed tension (IDT) and that this effect was maintained throughout the
experiment. In order to evaluate if the generation of NO was also different between
the two days of pregnancy, NOs activity was measured. Total NOs activity was significantly
elevated during the postimplantation stage.
We studied the interaction between the NO and cyclooxygenase (COX) pathways on the
fifth day of pregnancy, and the data show no stimulation of PGs production by endogenous
NO. In summary, we found that NO participates in the control of uterine contractility
on the fifth day (a postimplantation stage) and that in this condition the NO was
not able to elicit an increase in PGs production.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
July 2,
1998
Received:
May 8,
1998
Identification
Copyright
© 1998 Published by Elsevier Inc.
