[Enzyme histochemistry of the pig placenta. III. Histotopics of enzymes in the uterine epithelium].

Within the uterine glands, the following enzymes were demonstrated by histochemical methods after 30, 58, 80, 100, and 110 d of pregnancy, respectively: beta-N-acetyl-hexosaminidase, beta-galactosidase, beta-glucuronidase, alpha-mannosidase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, esterases, cytochrome oxidase, 5-nucleotidase, leucine aminopeptidase, adenosine triphosphatase, diaphorases (NADH, NADPH), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD, NADP), beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, glycero-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, NAD-glycero-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD, NADP), lactate dehydrogenase. The results show that the activities of G-6-PDH, 6-PGDH, and cytochrome oxidase increase within secreting cells during the 2nd half of pregnancy. The activities of the other enzymes remained almost unchanged during the period of investigation. The description of our results distinguishes between gland neck, middle, and distal part of the secretory unit, respectively. In general, the enzyme activities are similar within the middle and distal gland segments, but lower in the epithelia of the neck region. The activity of dehydrogenases was medium to intensive within the middle and distal gland segments, but only low to medium within the neck portion. Of the hydrolases, the acid phosphatase, ATPase, leucine aminopeptidase, and beta-galactosidase demonstrated an intensive activity within activity secreting cells. The enzyme activities of the gland epithelia are compared with these of the uterine surface epithelia and the histochemical results are discussed in context with their significance in histiotrophic nutrition.