Some effects of an intrauterine device on glucosaminoglycans of the hamster uterus.

The effect of an intrauterine device (IUD) on non-heparin sulfomucopolysaccharide (SMP) was studied in castrated, hormone-treated, and cycling hamsters by photographic densitometry of tissue sections stained specifically for SMP with Alcian blue. Non-heparin SMP increased slightly in the myometrium of IUD-containing uteri of all castrated groups, with the increase being significant in only the peanut oil-treated group. The endometrium also showed slight increases in sulfomucin in IUD-containing uteri of peanut oil, progesterone, and estrogen plus progesterone-treated animals. These increases, however, were not statistically significant. In cycling hamsters the IUD had little effect on uterine non-heparin SMP in most cycle stages.