Effect of Injury on Collagen Resorption in the Involuting Rat Uteru 1

Abstract

Summary

A mechanical crushing injury was applied to one horn of the rat uterus immediately following parturition. This injury retarded involution in that horn, but not in the contralateral horn, as measured by wet weight loss and collagen breakdown. Uterine collagen was labeled with [¹⁴C] hydroxyproline near the end of pregnancy. Injured horns lost this label more slowly than the uninjured horns and there was also a slower diminution of specific activity. The injury induces a repair process, but it is concluded that the fibrotic phase of repair does not occur during the period of maximum collagen breakdown accompanying involution.