Multitasking Human Endometrium

Abstract

Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Family Physicians Leaning Objectives: After completion of this article, the reader should be able to explain the concept of the endometrium as a multi-tasking tissue, describe the role in health and potential role in medical care of adult stem cells in the endometrium, and describe the clinical characteristics of endometrial biopsy techniques.

Histopathologic findings in uterine biopsy samples from subfertile bitches: 399 cases (1990–2005)

“…Cycle abnormalities included abnormally frequent or short estrous cycles, so-called split heats (ie, 2 estrous cycles within a 2-to 4-week period, where the first estrus is short and anovulatory and the second is ovulatory and of normal duration), persistent estrus, anovulatory cycles, or lack of a discernible estrous cycle. Fourteen dogs had biopsies performed for other reasons (eg, owner request [n = 1], previous treatment of pyometra [8], history of subfertility during previous estrus cycle [3], biopsy performed at time of surgical artificial insemination [1], or history of medical estrous cycle management with mibolerone solution [1]), and a clinical history was not re-corded when the sample was submitted for 49 (12.3%) of 399 dogs. However, given that endometrial biopsies are performed at the submitting clinic to gain prognostic information regarding future reproductive success for patients, the cases without histories available were retained in the data set.…”

Isolation and characterization of equine endometrial mesenchymal stromal cells

“…Thus, alternative sources of equine MSCs, such as the endometrium, are desirable. A major advantage of isolating MSCs from the endometrium compared to bone marrow or adipose tissue is that cells can be harvested by biopsy collection [24, 37], which is a relatively noninvasive approach used routinely in horses for diagnostic purposes that does not require sedation or local anesthesia [38]. In this study, we show for the first time that putative MSCs contained within the equine endometrium can be harvested and expanded in vitro, and have characteristics that may prove useful for tissue regeneration applications.…”