RESUMO
Dados histomorfométricos foram obtidos de cornos uterinos de gatas nulíparas (n=6), primíparas (n= 6), multíparalterações mais marcantes nas gatas tratadas; as variações morfológicas menos marcantes foram relativas ao diâmetro e epitélio glandulares; a presença de glândulas endometriais dilatadas foi encontrada somente nas gatas tratadas.
Histomorphometric data were obtained from cats uterine horns: either nulliparous (n = 6), primiparous (n = 6), multiparous (n = 6) and treated with contraceptive (n = 6). The material was collected after surgery, fixed in paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraplast® resin to be sliced in a microtome. The obtained sections were stained with hematoxylin -eosin and measured under a light microscope: uterine wall total thickness (μm), endometrium total height, endometrial glands diameter and glandular epithelia height, total myometrium, internal and external myometrium and vascular layer thickness. It was concluded that: 1 -contraceptive use and number of pregnancies altered the uterine structure, 2 -one pregnancy does not appear to affect the uterine lining structures as occurs in multiparous cats, 3 there was no variation on the evaluated structures between nulliparous and primiparous cats except for inner myometrium, 4 - the total myometrium hight and the endometrium hight showed similar variations except for the contraceptive treated cats group, 5 - the outer myometrium showed marked changes in the treated cats, 6 the less marked morphological variations were for the endometrial glands diameter and glandular epithelium hight, 7 - the presence of dilated endometrial glands was found only in treated cats.