Abstract

Smooth Muscle Pharmacology in the Isolated Virgin and Pregnant Rat Uterus and Cervix var callbackToken='505A4DCE4DAA746'; Skip to main page content HOME CURRENT ISSUE ARCHIVE FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ALERTS HELP Keywords GO Advanced » Institution: DeepDyve Sign In as Member / Individual User Name Password Sign In Smooth Muscle Pharmacology in the Isolated Virgin and Pregnant Rat Uterus and Cervix Emma S. Darios , Bridget Seitz and Stephanie W. Watts Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan <h3>Address correspondence to:</h3> Dr. Stephanie W. Watts, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, 1355 Bogue Street, Room B445, East Lansing, MI 48824-1317. E-mail: wattss@msu.edu <h2>Abstract</h2> Uterine smooth muscle function is established, but comparatively little is known about cervical smooth muscle pharmacology. We performed a proof-of-principle experiment that smooth muscle was expressed in the cervix in both virgin and pregnant rats, using the uterus as a comparator. We tested whether all tissues were pharmacologically responsive to contractile and relaxant agonists. Immunohistochemistry revealed the expression of smooth muscle α-actin in all tissues. The isolated tissue bath was used to measure isometric contractility of uterine strips and whole cervices from virgin and pregnant (day 11 ± 2) female Sprague-Dawley rats.