Immunohistological Examination on the Distribution of Collagen Types I, III, IV and V in Bovine Post Partum Placentomes

Abstract

This paper describes the in situ presence and distribution of collagen types I, 111, IV and V in the bovine placenta. The objective was to determine whether there are qualitative and/or quantitative differences in the collagen content of placentomes originating from cows with retained placenta and cows with normal discharge of the placenta. Twelve h post partum discharge of the placenta or the incidence of retained placenta was monitored. From 57 cows one placentome per cow was collected within 1 h post partum.The cows were divided into three groups: retained placenta after caesarean section (Group l), retained placenta after spontaneous calving (Group 2) and normal discharge of placenta within 12 h post partum after spontaneous calving (Group 3). A pilot study was conducted to establish the technique of collecting the placentomes and to verify the applied immunohistological methods used in this work. In the following study, 32 placentomes were used to determine the amount of collagen (types I, 111, IV and V) with qualitative and semi-quantitative methods using immunohistochemical techniques. Collagen types I, 111, IV and V were found in large quantities in the maternal tissue. In the fetal connective tissue the amount of these collagen types was smaller. In the placentomes of the three groups, no qualitative or quantitative differences could be detected.

Immunohistochemical Assessment of Collagen Types I, III, IV and VI in Biopsy Samples of the Bovine Uterine Wall Collected during the Oestrous Cycle

“…Sarges et al [1998] assessed the connective tissue of placentomes collected at term for collagen type IV and detected specific immunoreactivities in basement membranes as well as in lamellae lying free in the interstitium. By Sarges et al [1998] the latter structures were supposed to be remnants of basement membranes resulting from tissue breakdown.…”

“…Sarges et al [1998] assessed the connective tissue of placentomes collected at term for collagen type IV and detected specific immunoreactivities in basement membranes as well as in lamellae lying free in the interstitium. By Sarges et al [1998] the latter structures were supposed to be remnants of basement membranes resulting from tissue breakdown. Within the ECM of the theca interna of bovine antral follicles collagen type IV ·1 and ·2 immunoreactivities are recorded independently from basement membranes [Rodgers et al, 1998].…”

“…Activities of some of these enzymes and of their inhibitors are hormone dependent [Salamonsen et al, 1991[Salamonsen et al, , 1993Salamonsen and Nancarrow, 1994;Hampton et al, 1995;. Finally, collagens are a major element of the ovine fetal membranes [Shandley et al, 1997] and the bovine placentome [Sharpe et al, 1990;Sarges et al, 1998], so that the use of collagenase was successfully tested for prevention of retained fetal membranes [Eiler and Hopkins, 1993;Peters and Laven, 1996].…”

“…In the light of these recent findings it is astonishing to note that there seem to be only very few studies dealing with the histochemical localisation or biochemical quantification of the various collagen types during the oestrous cycle or pregnancy of domestic ruminants [Sharpe et al, 1990;Kaidi et al, 1995;Sarges et al, 1998;Guillomot, 1999]. Therefore, the aim of the present immunohistochemical study was to add some more information to uterine morphology and physiology as related to collagen types I, III, IV and VI in the naturally cycling cow, employing biopsy specimens collected repeatedly in 6 animals each.…”

Collagen Types I, III and IV in the Placentome and Interplacentomal Maternal and Fetal Tissues in Normal Cows and in Cattle with Retention of Fetal Membranes

“…However, characteristic alterations in extracellular matrix (ECM) composition and distribution have been reported to occur during the estrous cycle, early pregnancy and around term [Sharpe et al, 1990;Shandley et al, 1997;Shang et al, 1997;Sarges et al, 1998;Guillomot, 1999;Kimmins and MacLaren, 1999;Boos, 2000;MacIntyre et al, 2002;Yamada et al, 2002]. Furthermore, absolute amounts of collagens increase with ongoing pregnancy from 84 to 439 g before term [Kaidi et al, 1995] and decrease possibly a little around the time of and massively after parturition in ruminant species [Kaidi et al, 1991;Kaidi et al, 1995;Shandley et al, 1997;Regassa and Noakes, 2001].…”