Ultrastructural studies of the temporal relationship between loss of zona pellucida and appearance of blastocyst-induced stromal changes during normal pregnancy in rats.

Ultrastructural studies were undertaken to investigate the temporal relationship between loss of the zona pellucida around the blastocyst and the appearance of decidual changes in the endometrial stroma during normal implantation in rats. Blastocyst-free and blastocyst-containing sites of pregnant uterine horns were studied and compared with control sites from contralateral salpingectomized horns and horns of pseudopregnant animals from 24.00 h on Day 4 and onwards. There were no membrane contacts between the blastocyst and the uterine epithelium at 10.00 h on Day 5 and earlier because of an intervening zona pellucida. From 14.00 h onwards, however, such contacts were present and at 18.00 h, the zona pellucida had disappeared and the blastocyst had attached onto the uterine epithelium. The stromal cells of pregnant and control horns were indistinguishable from each other at 24.00 h on Day 4, but from 06.00 h on Day 5 onwards specific changes were noted in the stromal cell nucleoli of the pregnant horns. The results therefore suggest that the first morphological sign of decidualization occurs about 12 h before the Pontamine Blue reaction and is initiated by the blastocyst early on Day 5 while it is still encased by the zona pellucida.