Register      Login
Reproduction, Fertility and Development Reproduction, Fertility and Development Society
Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Female reproductive tract fluids: composition, mechanism of formation and potential role in the developmental origins of health and disease

Henry J. Leese A E , Sasha A. Hugentobler B C , Susan M. Gray A D , Dermot G. Morris B , Roger G. Sturmey A , Sarah-Louise Whitear A and Joseph M. Sreenan B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Biology, University of York, P.O. Box 373, York, YO10 5YW, UK.

B Teagasc, Animal Production Research Centre, Mellows Campus, Athenry, Galway, Ireland.

C Present address: Euresearch Head Office, P.O. Box 7924, CH-3001, Bern, Switzerland.

D Present address: Hull IVF Unit, The Women and Children’s Hospital, Hull Royal Infirmary, Anlaby Road, Hull, HU3 2JZ, UK.

E Corresponding author. Email: hjl1@york.ac.uk

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 20(1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD07153
Published: 12 December 2007

Abstract

The oviduct and uterus provide the environments for the earliest stages of mammalian embryo development. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the formation of oviduct and uterine fluids, or the extent to which the supply of nutrients via these reproductive tract tissues matches the nutrient requirements of early embryos. After reviewing our limited knowledge of these phenomena, a new experimental paradigm is proposed in which the epithelia lining the endosalpinx and endometrium are seen as the final components in a supply line that links maternal diet at one end and embryo uptake of nutrients at the other. When considered in this way, the oviduct and uterine epithelia become, for a few days, potentially the most critical maternal tissues in the establishment of a healthy pregnancy. In fulfilling this ‘gatekeeper’ role, female reproductive tract fluids have a key role in the ‘developmental origins of health and disease’ concept.


Acknowledgements

H. J. Leese, acknowledges support from the UK Medical Research Council, R. G. Sturmey from the Epidemiology and Genetics Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK, and S.-L. Whitear from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and ANGLE plc.


References

Aguilar, J. , and Reyley, M. (2005). The uterine tubal fluid: secretion, composition and biological effects. Anim. Reprod 2, 91–105.
Barker D. J. P. (1998). ‘Mothers, Babies and Health in Later Life.’ (Churchill Livingstone: Edinburgh.)

Borland, R. M. , Hazra, S. , Biggers, J. D. , and Lechene, C. P. (1977). The elemental composition of the environments of the gametes and preimplantation embryo during the initiation of pregnancy. Biol. Reprod. 16, 147–157.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Hamner C. E., and Fox S. B. (1969). Biochemistry of oviductal secretions. In ‘The Mammalian Oviduct. Comparative biology and methodology’. (Eds E. S. E. Hafez and R. J. Blandau.) pp. 333–355. (The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.)

Harding, J. E. (2001). The nutritional basis of the fetal origins of adult disease. Int. J. Epidemiol. 30, 15–23.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Huxley R. (2004). Early-life origins of adult disease: is there really an association between birthweight and chronic disease risk? In ‘Fetal Nutrition and Adult Disease’. (Ed. S. C. Langley-Evans.) pp. 105–128. (CABI Publishing: Wallingford, UK.)

Kavanaugh, J. , and Killian, G. (1988). Bovine oviductal cannulations. J. Invest. Surg. 1, 201–208.
PubMed | Langley-Evans S. C. (2004) Experimental models of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In ‘Fetal Nutrition and Adult Disease’. (Ed. S. C. Langley-Evans.) pp. 129–155. (CABI Publishing: Wallingford, UK.)

Leese, H. J. (1988). The formation and function of oviduct fluid. J. Reprod. Fertil. 82, 843–856.
PubMed | McLaren A. (1976). ‘Mammalian Chimaeras.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

McMillen, I. C. , and Robinson, J. S. (2005). Developmental origins of the metabolic syndrome: prediction, plasticity and programming. Physiol. Rev. 85, 571–633.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Nancarrow C. D., Hill J. L., and Connell O. J. (1992). Amino acid secretion by the ovine oviduct. In ‘Proceedings of Australian Society of Reproductive Biology, Adelaide’. Abstract 71. [Abstract]

Nichol, R. , Hunter, R. H. F. , Gardner, D. K. , Leese, H. J. , and Cooke, G. M. (1992). Concentrations of energy substrates in oviductal fluid and blood plasma of pigs during the peri-ovulatory period. J. Reprod. Fertil. 96, 699–707.
PubMed | Young L. E., Rees W. D., and Sinclair K. D. (2004). Programming the pre-implantation embryo. In ‘Fetal Nutrition and Adult Disease’. (Ed. S. C. Langley-Evans.) pp. 333–351. (CABI Publishing: Wallingford, UK.)