Carl J. Pauerstein

Role of stroma in regeneration of endometrial epithelium

Abstract Sections of menstruating endometria were studied by various techniques to determine the process by which the surface was re-epithelialized. Although the stumps of remaining glands projected over the surface, this residual epithelium seemed a metabolically inactive and unlikely source of a young growing cell. In many instances, the hyperchromatic stromal cells appeared to project between gland stumps and take part in the re-epithelization by a process simulating metaplasia. Metabolically this stroma-type cell compared favorably with the small, “dark” indifferent cell which is noted at the stromoepithelial border and from which the gland epithelium may reproduce.

The role of the “indifferent” cell of the tubal epithelium

Abstract The indifferent cell of the tubal epithelium is a specific variety and is recognized by simple histologic study. By use of acridine orange fluorescence and incubation with H 3 -thymidine this cell appears to be metabolically more active than the commonly described varieties of the tubal epithelium. In conditions demonstrating increased proliferation of the epithelium, e.g., salpingitis, increase in metabolically active cells corresponds to the increase in the numbers of indifferent cells. It is postulated that this indifferent cell is the cell from which the mature epithelial cell, and possibly even the stroma, regenerates.

Age at menopause in women participating in the postmenopausal estrogen/progestins interventions (PEPI) trial: An example of bias introduced by selection criteria

Our objective is to illustrate the bias introduced in assessing factors associated with age at menopause when the population sample has been selected using restricted criteria, i.e. number of years since menopause, by using a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a population-based randomized clinical trial. The participants were women who participated in the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestins Intervention (PEPI) trial, had not had a hysterectomy, were between 45 and 64 years old, and were menopausal for at least 1 but not greater than 10 years. The outcome measures were self-reported age at menopause and factors thought to be associated with it, including smoking, alcohol use, oral contraceptive use, number of pregnancies, education, income, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, thigh girth, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures. At entry, the mean age of the 601 women was 56.2 years. Mean age at menopause was 51.0 years. Chronologic (current) age was strongly correlated with age at menopause (r = 0.74, p = 0.0001). In bivariate analyses, factors associated with younger age at menopause were ever-use of cigarettes, former oral contraceptive use, and higher thigh girth; factors associated with later age at menopause were greater number of pregnancies, higher waist-hip ratio, and higher systolic blood pressure. After stratification by 5-year age intervals, these associations were no longer statistically significant. Because of restricted sampling, an artificial association was observed between chronologic age and age at time of menopause. This artifact made it difficult to distinguish between factors associated with chronologic age and those that may be independently associated with menopause. Failure to recognize this bias could lead to erroneous conclusions.

Pharmacodynamic studies of the human Fallopian tube in vitro.

Abstract The fertilized Eutherian ovum pauses at the ampullary-isthmic junction of the oviduct after rapid passage through the tubal ampulla. This pause is critical to successful reproduction. The mechanisms controlling the tubal transport of ova remain enigmatic. The present study evaluates the adrenergic pharmacology of the extirpated human tube in vitro. Adrenergic stimulation and blockade altered the resistance to the perfusion of fluid through the lumen of the human tube thus demonstrating alpha and beta adrenergic receptor activity.

Developmental patterns in “adenomatoid lesions"” of the Fallopian tube

Abstract The association of patterns compatible with diagnoses of “adenomatoid tumor,” “salpingitis isthmica nodosa,” and serosal mesothelial inclusion in a tubal lesion brought into sharp focus the possible similar histogtnesis of these atypical picturu. Serial sections to trace the development of the various patterns, comparison of the morphology and staining qualities of the cells with those noted in other “characteristic” lesions, and the recognition of the common embryologic origin of these epithelia have led the authors to accept the hypothesis that all may well be “variations on the same theme.”