Odeblad E et al., 2008 · Acta radiologica. Supplement
Cycle Biomarkers · Cervical Mucus
Menárguez M et al., 2003 · Human reproduction (Oxford, England)
This study was conducted on human cervical mucus using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The objective was the morphological characterization of the different mucus types, with samples taken from the lumen of the cervix and from the different secretory zones of the cervical mucosa. A total of 230 samples from 195 women were spread out on slides and air dried. The phenomenon of 'ferning' was observed and assessed in these samples using both LM and SEM. Further samples from the lumen of the cervix and the different secretory crypts were spread out on cover slips and fixed with glutaraldehyde (2.5%) to be studied by SEM. The results show the presence of four different morphological mucus types, namely L, S, P and G, in both types of sample using dried and fixed techniques. Mucus from the lumen of the cervix appears to be a morphologically heterogeneous entity. It contains different types of secretions, the proportions of which vary throughout the menstrual cycle. The different mucosal types show different types of crystallization, different patterns of ultrastructure (probably related to the arrangement of the glycoprotein network) and are produced in different secretory zones of the crypts in the cervix.
Odeblad E, 1994
An introduction to and some new anatomical and physiological aspects of the cervix and vagina are presented and also an explanation of the biosynthesis and molecular structure of mucus.
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