Smooth muscle alpha actin and myosin heavy chain expression in the vascular smooth muscle cells surrounding human endometrial arterioles

Keren M. Abberton, D. Healy, Peter A. W. Rogers
In: Human Reproduction · 1999 · vol. 14(12) , pp. 3095–3100 · doi:10.1093/humrep/14.12.3095 · PMID:10601102 · W2012822821
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 21 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study found reduced alphaSMA and myosin heavy chain expression in the vascular smooth muscle cells of endometrial arterioles from women with menorrhagia compared to controls.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Endometrial spiral arterioles are believed to play a major role in controlling menstruation. These arterioles coil and grow through the secretory stages of the cycle, unlike the 'straight' endometrial arterioles that remain uncoiled. We postulate that alterations in the growth and development of spiral arterioles, in particular the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), may contribute to menorrhagia. We examined smooth muscle alpha actin (alphaSMA) and myosin heavy chains (MHC), two VSMC differentiation markers, in the endometrial arterioles of 64 women, comparing them in controls, menorrhagic tissues and across the menstrual cycle. alphaSMA and MHC expression were determined immunohistochemically then evaluated using computer-aided image analysis. alphaSMA expression in the straight arterioles of menorrhagic women was reduced in the early secretory stage of the cycle and significantly decreased at the mid-secretory stage of the cycle (0.67 +/- 0.03 versus 0.55 +/- 0.04, P </= 0.05). No other significant differences were observed in alphaSMA and MHC expression in straight arterioles. MHC expression was significantly reduced in the spiral arterioles of menorrhagic tissues at the early secretory stage (0.57 +/- 0.01 versus 0.38 +/- 0.04, P </= 0.05). Our results demonstrate differences in the VSMC of menorrhagic women compared with controls, with delayed MHC expression in the spiral arterioles and reduced alphaSMA expression in straight arterioles during the mid-secretory stage of the cycle.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (26)

Cited by (21)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK