Objective To establish a rat animal model that can reflect the similar pathological changes of the sacral ligament in patients with pelvic organ prolapse, and to explore the effects of increasing the intensity of birth injury and simulating menopause on the pathology of the rat's sacral ligament, so as to provide an experimental basis for further research.
Methods Sixty adult SPF-grade SD female rats weighing about 300 g were selected, of which 45 were without birth history. They were divided into blank control group (A), simulated menopausal group (B), and simulated birth injury by random number table method. In the simulated menopause group (C), the other 15 babies who had delivered 3 times in a row were birth injury + simulated birth injury + simulated menopause group (D). Group A received normal drinking and eating, group B underwent double oophorectomy, group C underwent simulated birth injury operation and bilateral ovarian resection surgery to simulate menopause, group D underwent bilateral simulated birth injury after 3 consecutive deliveries and 2 The ovaries were removed to simulate menopause, and they were routinely fed for 8-10 weeks after surgery. Eight rats were randomly selected from each group to observe the appearance of the genitals and the changes of the genital hiatus of the rats in each group; the immunohistochemical method was used to observe and evaluate the type I and type III collagen (COL1A1, COL3A1) and transforming growth factor β-3 ( TGFβ-3) Change in integrated optical density. RT-PCR was used to determine the mRNA expression levels of COL1A1, COL3A1, and TGFβ-3 in the sacral ligament tissue. Results After modeling, the diameter of the vaginal hiatus in group D was larger than that of the control group by more than 2 mm. The rats in each group had no obvious prolapsed phenotype, and group D showed mild perineal abnormalities; the anterior vaginal wall of group D rats The expression of COL1A1 was significantly lower than that of group A (P<0.05), and the relative expression of TGFβ-3 was significantly higher than that of group C and D compared with group A (P<0.05); group D rat sacral The expression of COLIA1 and COL3A1 in ligaments was significantly lower than that of group A (P<0.05). Compared with group A, the relative expression of TGFβ-3 was significantly higher in group C and D than group A (P<0.05).
Conclusion The genital prolapse phenotype of the rat model after modeling is not significant. For example, the production of this model with phenotypic changes as the research content is not appropriate; this model can be used as an animal model to study the pathophysiological changes of the POP sacral ligament. However, it is not certain whether the mechanical properties of human and rat sacral ligaments are similar. It is necessary to select the most suitable animal model based on the respective advantages and disadvantages of various animals and the actual research problems to be solved.