ResearchGynecologyA systematic evaluation of collagen cross-links in the human cervix
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This study was approved by the Columbia University Medical Center Institutional Review Board (institutional review board no. AAAI0337). Nonpregnant, premenopausal women undergoing a total hysterectomy for benign indications were identified and consented to participate. Women were excluded if they were older than 50 years of age, had an abnormal Papanicolaou smear, or had prior cervical surgery. Demographic information (age, race, body mass index, obstetric history) and indication for procedure
Results
Thirteen patients were consented and cervical tissue collected. A total of 624 biopsies were collected. Biopsies were excluded if an error was made during processing or if the collagen content was higher than 100%. This left a total of 592 samples for analysis. The average age was 45.2 years, average body mass index was 28.8 kg/m2, and the mean uterine weight was 1011 g (Table 1).
Comment
This study establishes that specific immature and mature collagen cross-links are present in detectable amounts in the human cervix. The most abundant collagen cross-link is PYD followed by DHLNL and then DPD. PEN is present but in smaller amounts compared with the other cross-links. This trend appears to persist despite location in the cervix.
PEN was shown to be present in higher amounts at the external os compared with the internal os. PEN is a nonenzymatic advanced glycation product that is
References (21)
- et al.
Cervical funneling: effect on gestational length and ultrasound-indicated cerclage in high-risk women
Am J Obstet Gynecol
(2010) - et al.
Immunohistochemical studies on collagen types in the uterine cervix in pregnant and nonpregnant states
Am J Obstet Gynecol
(1987) - et al.
Decreased elastic fibers and desmosine content in incompetent cervix
Am J Obstet Gynecol
(1987) - et al.
Mechanical and biochemical properties of human cervical tissue
Acta Biomaterials
(2008) - et al.
Changes in the biochemical constituents and morphologic appearance of the human cervical stroma during pregnancy
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
(2009) - et al.
Relationships between mechanical properties and extracellular matrix constituents of the cervical stroma during pregnancy
Semin Perinatol
(2009) Collagen organization in the cervix and its relation to mechanical function
Coll Relat Res
(1988)- et al.
Effects of selective and nonselective PGE2 receptor agonists on cervical tensile strength and collagen organization and microstructure in the pregnant rat at term
Am J Obstet Gynecol
(2005) - et al.
Mechanisms of maturation and ageing of collagen
Mech Ageing Dev
(1998) Anatomy and physiology of cervical ripening
Clin Obstet Gynecol
(1995)
Cited by (45)
Bioengineering and the cervix: The past, current, and future for addressing preterm birth
2023, Current Research in PhysiologyThree-dimensional anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive model describing the mechanical response of human and mouse cervix
2022, Acta BiomaterialiaCitation Excerpt :In humans, proteomics studies confirm the composition of ECM proteins overlaps with the mouse [34]. Additionally, the same type of mature and immature crosslinks exist in the human nonpregnant cervical tissue [23] as measured in mice, and biologic assays measuring the solubility of pregnant cervical tissue show evidence collagen crosslinks decline with pregnancy [19,28,29]. This decrease in collagen fibril crosslinking density is hypothesized to cause an increase in collagen fibril diameter as viewed on-end in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in mice [24] and an increase in collagen fiber waviness as viewed in second harmonic generation (SHG) images in humans [35,36] and mice [37,38].
In vivo Raman spectroscopy monitors cervical change during labor
2022, American Journal of Obstetrics and GynecologyViscoelastic model characterization of human cervical tissue by torsional waves
2021, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical MaterialsCervical alterations in pregnancy
2018, Best Practice and Research: Clinical Obstetrics and GynaecologyCitation Excerpt :Yoshida et al. demonstrated that as pregnancy progresses in mice, there appears to be a decrease in the collagen crosslink maturity ratio (the ratio of mature to immature collagen crosslink densities), which correlates to softer, more compliant cervical tissue [40]. We have shown that collagen crosslinks in the human cervix can be measured and that regional differences exist in the cervix [41]. However, how collagen crosslinking changes in human cervical tissue during pregnancy remains unknown.
Anisotropy and Spatial Heterogeneity in Quantitative Ultrasound Parameters: Relevance to the Study of the Human Cervix
2018, Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology
The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
This study was supported by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Foundation/American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation Scholarship and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant UL1 TR000040.
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Cite this article as: Zork NM, Myers KM, Yoshida K, et al. A systematic evaluation of collagen cross-links in the human cervix. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015;212:321.e1-8.