Hormonal regulation of cervix transcript expression in the menstrual cycle

The aim of this study was to identify hormonally regulated genes and their related biological pathways in the rhesus macaque cervix during the menstrual cycle. The cervix is the gateway for gamete passage, which is driven by hormonal regulation with progesterone (P) suppressing the passage of gametes. Contraceptives that are progesterone based change the cervix. Progestogen only contraception is reported to act by suppressing ovulation and/or altering cervical mucus secretion. In order to further investigate novel contraceptive targets and their pathways, a microarray was used to discover genes in the cervix that are suppressed under varying lengths of exposure to progesterone throughout an artificial menstrual cycle. Adult ovariectomized rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were treated sequentially with estradiol (E2) and then E2 plus progesterone (P) to create artificial menstrual cycles. Reproductive tracts were collected in the artificial proliferative phase (PF; E2 alone; n=13) and in the artificial secretory phase (SP) after 1, 3, 7, and 14 days of P (n=4, 5, 5 and 10, respectively).