ENDOMETRIAL RESPONSE TO DECIDUOGENIC STIMULUS IN OVARIECTOMIZED RHESUS-MONKEYS TREATED WITH ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE - AN ULTRASTRUCTURAL-STUDY

The present work continues our aim of establishing an experimental model to study the decidual cell reaction to an artifical deciduogenic stimulus in the long-term ovariectomized rhesus monkey treated with oestrogen followed by progesterone. The fine structural details of decidual, granular and plaque cells, which constituted the endometrial cellular response to the deciduogenic stimulation in the present study, revealed striking similarities with those reportedly present in an endometrial response to blastocyst implantation in the rhesus monkey. Plaque epithelial showed a significant degree of hypertrophy, hyperplasia and differentiation followed by a steady degeneration by day 32 (equivalent to day 16 after trauma) of treatment. The plaque cells were shown to contain numerous regular-shaped mitochondria, polyribosomes and large amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) in their cytoplasm and were characteristically arranged in clusters or acini formation surrounded by discrete basal laminae. As early as day 28 of treatment, the initiation of stromal decidual cell transformation was noted and, by day 48, a sizeable pool of decidual cells was found. The decidual cells had rounded nuclei and elaborate arrangements of interconnected cisternae of RER which were often moderately dilated and filled with amorphous, electron-dense material. Granular cells were characterized by eccentrically located nuclei and numerous membrane-bound, electron-dense granules in their cytoplasm and were found in increasing numbers in the stroma around decidual cells, blood vessels and glandular epithelia. Based on the ultrastructural and temporal characteristics of the endometrial cells studied it has been suggested that the cells have secretory functions, and that the differential maturation profiles of the cell types might be caused by their differences in sensitivities and by their integral response to progresterone.