Alteration in the Collagen Content of the Human Uterus During Pregnancy and Post Partum Involution

Abstract

The physiological resorption of collagen during recovery
from experimental cirrhosis was demonstrated in
1947 (1). Factors which influence the deposition and
disappearance of collagen in experimental cirrhosis,
as well as the phenomenon of the regression of scar
tissue, were examined subsequently (2, 3). A striking
resorption of collagen from the rat uterus following
parturition was described by Harkness and Harkness
in 1954 (4). Later these authors (5), and Harkness and
Moralee (6), suggested that the post partum uterus is
especially suitable for investigation of the physiological
dissolution and catabolism of endogenous collagen. The
present study was undertaken to determine the alterations
in the nature and content of collagen occurring in
the myometrium of the human uterus during pregnancy
and the post partum involutionary period.