Concentration and turnover of intraperitoneal hyaluronan during inflammation.

Aseptic peritonitis was induced in rabbits by intraperitoneal injection of irritating agents, mainly starch suspensions. The inflammatory response was followed in the peritoneal lavage fluid by cell counts (average increase about 800-fold the first day) and hyaluronan concentration (average increase about 200-fold on the second and third days). The turnover rate of hyaluronan was studied by injecting tritium-labeled hyaluronan intraperitoneally and by following the appearance of tritiated water in serum. In control animals given trace amounts of hyaluronan, half-lives of 1-14 h were recorded. When the labeled polysaccharide had been mixed with 10 mg/ml of unlabeled hyaluronan, the half-life was approximately one day. Rabbits with ongoing peritonitis exhibited half-lives between 1 and 16 h. It was concluded that there was a large individual variation in uptake kinetics, that the removal process could be receptor mediated, and that the increase in intraperitoneal hyaluronan in peritonitis mainly was due to an increased production of the polysaccharide rather than a decreased rate of removal.

Cyclic variation of major histocompatibility complex class II antigen expression in the human fallopian tube epithelium.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically investigate the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens (human leukocyte antigens, HLA-DR, -DP, and -DQ) on columnar epithelium in the fallopian tube during the menstrual cycle. STUDY DESIGN: Biopsies were collected from the fallopian tube during laparotomy sterilization and immunoperoxidase staining was performed. SETTINGS: Departments of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. PATIENTS: Twenty healthy fertile women undergoing sterilization at different times of the menstrual cycle. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The staining of the columnar epithelium was judged on a 4-graded scale according to the distribution of class II antigens. RESULTS: A widespread preovulatory HLA-DR expression was observed almost completely lining the columnar epithelial cells including the luminal surface, whereas postovulatory the HLA-DR expression was withdrawn from the surface. The HLA-DP and -DQ antigens varied in a similar way, although not as pronounced. CONCLUSIONS: The MHC class II antigen variation in the fallopian tube epithelium seen in this study may indicate a hormonal regulation that could reflect variable need for local immunocompetence during the menstrual cycle: a preovulatory need for immunoreactivity against invading microbes and postovulatory an optimal survival of the foreign preimplantation embryo.

Localization of hyaluronan in regions of the human female reproductive tract.

Accumulation of hyaluronan has previously been observed in various organs as an inflammatory response. To study the presumed connection between infertility due to a tubal factor and inflammation, we performed an analysis of the hyaluronan distribution in biopsy specimens from the female reproductive tract, using a biotinylated hyaluronan binding protein (HABP) as a histochemical probe. In normal specimens hyaluronan was localized in the dense, irregular connective tissue surrounding blood vessels of various sizes. Smooth muscle and columnar epithelium were devoid of hyaluronan. The isthmic part of the normal Fallopian tube showed moderately intense staining of the entire lamina propria, whereas normal fimbriae stained weakly. No cyclic changes in hyaluronan content were observed. In biopsy specimens from women with infertility due to a tubal factor, intense staining, stronger than in normal tubes, was detected in the adhesions and in the lamina propria of sactosalpinx. This may indicate that infertility due to a tubal factor is associated with an ongoing inflammatory and/or proliferative process.