Postcoital administration of asoprisnil inhibited embryo implantation and disturbed ultrastructure of endometrium in implantation window in mice

Asoprisnil, a member of the selective progesterone receptor modulators, exerts high progesterone receptor selectivity, endometrial targeted advantages and significant anti-implantation effect in rats. The purpose of this study was to confirm the anti-implantation effect of asoprisil, investigate the ultrastructural changes of the peri-implantation endometrium in mice and explore the effect of asoprisnil on endometrial receptivity and its targeted contraceptive proficiency. Post-coitus mice were administered with different dosages (0.2, 0.1, 0.05 mg·g -1 ·day -1 ) of asoprisnil from day 1 of pregnancy to day 3. Then 3 animals in each group were killed on day 5 of pregnancy, and uteri were collected to examine the ultrastructural changes of endometria under a transmission electron microscope (TEM). A total of 80 animals were sacrificed on day 8 of pregnancy, and the uterine horns were examined for the presence or absence of nidation sites and the number of implantation embryos. The results showed that the implantation rate and the average number of implantation embryos in asoprisnil groups were statistically significantly decreased as compared with the vehicle control group (P<0.05). The TEM results revealed that, in vehicle control group, the tight junction between the luminal epithelia cells was short and straight, the gap was wide; the luminal epithelia cells were covered with plenty of short, clavate and neatly arranged microvilli; the endometril stromal cells were large with plenty of cytoplasm, and showed significant decidual change; there was more than one nucleus in stromal cells, and the karyotheca was integrity. In low dosage and high dosage asoprisnil groups, the tight junction was longer and more curve than in the vehicle control group; microvilli were uneven and asymmetrically distributed in luminal epithelia; the stromal cells were small and the decidual change was not significant; there were karyopyknosis and karyolysis in stromal cells; there were abnormal thick-wall vessels in the endometrium. It was suggested that asoprisnil changed the ultrastructure of the endometrium in implantation window, disturbed the endometrial receptivity and finally resulted in embryo implantation failure.     

Relationship between Ouabain and Asthenozoospermia简

A growing number of researches have shown that ouabain can regulate mammalian sperm function and male reproduction by modulating the sperm motility, capacitation and acrosome reaction in vitro. This study further examined the relationship between ouabain and asthenozoospermia. In this study, the rat was intraperitoneally injected with ouabain at different concentrations（low-dose ouabain group： 12.5 μg/kg body weight per day, and high-dose ouabain group： 25 μg/kg body weight per day） for 30 days to establish the asthenozoospermia model. The sperms from 60 males with normal fertility were incubated with ouabain of gradient concentrations（10-7–10-2mol/L） for 4 h. The sperm motility was evaluated under a microscope. Moreover, the endogenous ouabain（EO） level was determined in seminal plasma of mild or severe asthenozoospermia patients and males with normal fertility by competitive inhibition ELISA. The results showed that the sperm motility was significantly diminished in the rats treated with different concentrations of ouabain. The number of motile sperms（grades a and b） was decreased greatly in a time- and dose-dependent manner in 10-5–10-2mol/L ouabain groups（P0.01）, while no obvious change in sperm motility was observed in 10-7–10-6mol/L groups even for 4-h incubation（P0.05）. Furthermore, the EO level was significantly increased in asthenozoospermia patients as compared with that in males with normal fertility（25.27±1.71 μg/L in mild asthenozoospermia patients, 26.52±1.82 μg/L in severe asthenozoospermia patients, 19.31±1.45 μg/L in normal fertility men）（P0.01）. In conclusion, rat asthenozoospermia was successfully established by intraperitoneal injection of ouabain, and 10-5mol/L ouabain was sufficient enough to inhibit sperm motility in vitro. Moreover, EO, a normal constituent of seminal plasma, was highly expressed in asthenozoospermia males as compared with normal fertility ones.     

Asoprisnil抗小鼠孕卵着床效果及对子宫内膜容受性的影响

目的:探讨Asoprisnil抗小鼠孕卵着床的效果及其对小鼠着床窗期子宫内膜容受性的影响。方法:将孕第1日小鼠随机分成4组,分别为Asoprisnil低(5μg/g)、中(10μg/g)、高(20μg/g)剂量组和对照组,每组22只,于孕第1~3日每日灌胃给药1次,对照组以体积分数1%羧甲基纤维素钠替代,第5日每组处死孕鼠5只取子宫组织,HE染色观察子宫内膜形态学改变,免疫组织化学S-P法检测子宫内膜PCNA表达。第8日处死余下的孕鼠,计数着床点数。结果:①Asoprisnil高、中和低剂量组的妊娠率分别为11.76%、35.29%和76.47%,与对照组(94.12%)比较差异有统计意义(P<0.001)。②Asoprisnil高、中、低剂量组着床胚泡数第50百分位数(P50)分别为13(10.5~14)、10(0.5~11)和0(0~12),与对照组0(0~0)比较差异均有统计学意义(P<0.001)。③对照组围着床期子宫内膜腺体弯曲折叠,为复层高柱状上皮细胞;基质细胞蜕膜变,细胞大且排列疏松,胞质丰富透亮;内膜中腺体和血管丰富。Asoprisnil组子宫内膜腺体为单层或者复层上皮细胞;内膜基质细胞蜕膜变不明显,基质细胞较小,排列致密;腺体和血管增生不明显。④围着床期小鼠子宫内膜腺体和基质中均有PCNA表达。内膜腺体中Asoprisnil高、中、低剂量组PCNA表达强度(AIOD)分别为0.15±0.01、0.16±0.03和0.14±0.02,与对照组(0.21±0.03)比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.001)。Asoprisnil高、中、低剂量组内膜基质细胞中PCNA表达强度(AIOD)分别为0.17±0.01、0.18±0.03和0.17±0.02,与对照组(0.15±0.02)比差异有统计学意义(P<0.001)。结论:Asoprisnil能显著抑制着床窗期子宫内膜腺体增殖,促进子宫内膜基质细胞增殖,但阻止基质细胞蜕膜化,降低子宫内膜容受性而发挥抗小鼠胚胎着床效应,显示出潜在的子宫内膜靶向避孕前景。