Nascimento Acácia Eduarda de Jesus, Santos Luciano Cardoso, Santos Bianca Reis, Santos Emilly Oliveira, Cunha Maria Clara da Silva Galrão, Snoeck Paola Pereira das Neves, de Lavor Mário Sérgio Lima, Silva Juneo Freitas
Centro de Microscopia Eletrônica, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Campus Soane Nazare de Andrade, 45662-900, Ilhéus, Brazil.
Hospital Veterinário, Departamento de Ciências Agrarias e Ambientais, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Campus Soane Nazare de Andrade, 45662-900, Ilhéus, Brazil.
Theriogenology. 2023 Jun;203:1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.03.007. Epub 2023 Mar 16.
Sex steroids and antioxidant enzymes are important in female sexual development and adequate modulation of the estrous cycle, pregnancy, and fetal development. Therefore, modifications in its signaling or expression in the genital system are associated with reproductive dysfunctions. However, the spatial-temporal expression profile of receptors for sex steroids and antioxidant enzymes in the uterus of domestic cats throughout the estrous cycle needs to be studied. Cats in proestrus/estrus (N = 6), diestrus, (N = 7), and anestrus (N = 6) were used to evaluate the uterine expression of estrogen alpha (ERα), progesterone (PR), and androgen (AR) receptors and of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), catalase and glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1) by immunohistochemistry and qPCR. The uterus of cats in diestrus showed lower protein and mRNA expression of ERα and PR compared to proestrus/estrus and anestrus, mainly in the luminal and glandular epithelium and myometrium, different from catalase and SOD1, which showed higher expression in diestrus in relation to other phases of the cycle. GPX1, on the other hand, showed lower uterine gene expression in diestrus compared to proestrus/estrus and anestrus. No significant differences in AR expression were observed. In conclusion, ERα and PR sex steroid receptors and antioxidant enzymes are expressed differently in the uterus of domestic cats during the estrous cycle.
性类固醇和抗氧化酶在雌性性发育以及发情周期、妊娠和胎儿发育的适当调节中起着重要作用。因此，其信号传导或在生殖系统中的表达发生改变与生殖功能障碍有关。然而，家猫子宫中性类固醇和抗氧化酶受体在整个发情周期中的时空表达谱仍有待研究。选取处于发情前期/发情期（N = 6）、发情后期（N = 7）和乏情期（N = 6）的猫，通过免疫组织化学和定量聚合酶链反应评估雌激素α（ERα）、孕激素（PR）和雄激素（AR）受体以及抗氧化酶超氧化物歧化酶1（SOD1）、过氧化氢酶和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶1（GPX1）在子宫中的表达。与发情前期/发情期和乏情期相比，发情后期猫的子宫中ERα和PR的蛋白质和mRNA表达较低，主要在腔上皮、腺上皮和肌层，这与过氧化氢酶和SOD1不同，过氧化氢酶和SOD1在发情后期相对于发情周期的其他阶段表达较高。另一方面，与发情前期/发情期和乏情期相比，发情后期GPX1在子宫中的基因表达较低。未观察到AR表达的显著差异。总之，在发情周期中，ERα和PR性类固醇受体以及抗氧化酶在家猫子宫中的表达存在差异。
