Age-dependent changes of the immunohistochemical distribution of various collagen types and structural glycoproteins in the human uterine tube

Abstract

This immunohistochemical investigation deals with the age-dependent localization and distribution of types I, III, IV, V, and VI collagen and the structural glycoproteins undulin, fibronectin, laminin, tenascin, and vitronectin in the connective tissue of the human uterine tube. The stroma of this oviductal region consisted of all collagen types. Collagen types I and VI were distributed throughout the connective tissue of the mucosa reaching the basal membrane. The findings suggest that the amount of these collagen types and type III collagen increases in relation to age, since the coarser fibres of the mucosal stroma in the uterine tubes of older women were strongly labelled by immunohistochemistry. The pattern of undulin reactivity was similar to that of types I and VI collagen. The exact quantitative proportions of age-related oviductal changes for types I, III, and VI as well as of undulin are still unknown. Type V collagen was associated with a fine fibre meshwork in the mucosal stroma. The fibres reached the subepithelial zone which appeared membrane-like. The location of type V collagen-associated fibres and aldehyde fuchsin-positive fibres characterized in our previous studies appears to be identical. Moreover, the structural glycoproteins undulin, fibronectin, laminin, tenascin, and vitronectin were detected in the mucosal stroma. The staining of fibronectin was less pronounced than that of undulin. Laminin was located in the zone of the basal membrane, whereas tenascin was mainly found in the mucosal vessels. Contrary to these findings, tenascin showed a unique distribution in the region near the basis of the mucosal folds in the isthmic part. Vitronectin could be observed in the same region of the isthmic part of uterine tubes obtained from younger women. However, the zonal localization of vitronectin reactivity was absent in the isthmic part of older women.