Natural killer (NK) cells become a prominent cell population in the rodent uterus during pregnancy. The mature, heavily granulated form of these cells is rare in virgin or postpartum uteri. Death, migration, or dedifferentiation could account for the disappearance of these cells from late gestation uteri. We asked whether uterine NK cells, also known as granulated metrial gland (GMG) cells, die in situ and if expression of Fas antigen is essential for their death. Late in gestation, fragmentation of nuclear DNA was detected histologically by OH-end labeling, as were ultrastructural changes suggesting cell death. NK cells developed in and were lost from the uteri of pregnant Fas antigen-deficient lpr/lpr mice. Postpartum samples of retained placentas contained some residual NK cells that had moved from regions of uterine musculature toward the uterine lumen and were being expelled with the placenta. Thus, both cell death and placental separation remove NK cells from the peripartum uterus.

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Epidermal growth factor concentrations and amounts per ejaculate were' determined in 162 infertile men and in a control group of 50 pregnancy-proven fertile men. No differences were found between those groups. The group of infertile patients was divided into sub-groups according to their sperm density. EGF values in those sub-groups were not significantly different. There was no correlation between EGF concentrations and the variables of the sperm analysis that were measured. All these data suggest that EGF is not an index of gonadal function. This may be due to the fact that probably most EGF in seminal plasma is of prostatic origin.

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