The Effects of Estradiol-17 β and Progesterone on the Volume of Uterine Fluid in Ovariectomized Mice

Numerous reports have appeared dealing with various molecular components of uterine fluid during implantation or delayed implantation (Pinsker et al., 1974; Aitken, 1977; Surani, 1977; Hoversland and Weitlauf, 1978) and the findings have led to the suggestion that components of uterine fluid influence or even regulate metabolism in preimplantation embryos. In those experiments, uterine fluid was usually collected by flushing buffer through the uterus. The resulting fluids were analyzed for the total amount of various components, or the ratio of those components to protein. One difficulty in interpreting such data is that the concentration of the various substances in situ cannot be determined without an estimate of the original volume of uterine fluid. To resolve this difficulty, the present experiments were undertaken to determine the volume of uterine fluid in mice under various endocrine regimens. The method used was a modification of the technique described by Kulangara (1972).