| | Dose | Uterus weight (mg: mean ± SD) | Uterus Luminal epithelial height (μM: mean ± SD) |
|---|
Vehicle sc | - | 14.6 ± 9.5 | 11.7 ± 1.1 |
EE sc | 0.025 | 107.6 ± 20.2* | 28.5 ± 1.8* |
ERB-79 sc | 1 | 9.7 ± 2.5 | 11.8 ± 1.1 |
ERB-79 sc | 3 | 14.2 ± 2.7 | 13.7 ± 1.5* |
ERB-79 sc | 10 | 18.2 ± 4.2 | 14.1 ± 0.8* |
- After ovariectomy of female DBA/1J mice, mice were treated daily subcutaneaously, for 21 days with vehicle (0.5% gelatin and 5% mannitol in water), the estrogen receptor (ER)α/β agonist ethinyl estradiol (EE; 0.025 mg/kg) or the ERβ agonist ERB-79 at 1 mg/kg, 3 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg (n = 8 mice per treatment group). Uterus was dissected free, weighted and thereafter fixed in 4% formaldehyde. Uterus was embedded in paraffin and sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Microscopical images are captured and measured at 125-fold magnification using an automated image analysis system (UltraSpark, Iduna Elektronics BV, Veghel, The Netherlands). Of each mouse at least two cross sections and two fields per section are measured. The mean epithelial height is measured over a stretch of luminal epithelium that is clearly transversely cut. All measurements per mouse are used to calculate one mean Luminal Epithelial Height (LEH) value for that animal. (* P ≤ 0.05: Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance). sc, subcutaneous; SD, standard deviation.
