Human Reproduction, Vol. 18, No. 9, 1782-1789,
September 2003
© 2003 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Morphological characterization of different human cervical mucus types using light and scanning electron microscopy
1 Department of Cellular Biology, Section of Histology and General Embryology, Medical School, University of Murcia, Spain and 2 Institutionen For Medicinsk Fysik, Department of Medical Biophysics, Umea Universitet, Umea, Sweden
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Murcia, Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain. e-mail: bioetica{at}um.es
BACKGROUND: This study was conducted on human cervical mucus using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The objective was the morphological characterization of the different mucus types, with samples taken from the lumen of the cervix and from the different secretory zones of the cervical mucosa. METHODS: A total of 230 samples from 195 women were spread out on slides and air dried. The phenomenon of ‘ferning’ was observed and assessed in these samples using both LM and SEM. Further samples from the lumen of the cervix and the different secretory crypts were spread out on cover slips and fixed with glutaraldehyde (2.5%) to be studied by SEM. RESULTS: The results show the presence of four different morphological mucus types, namely L, S, P and G, in both types of sample using dried and fixed techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Mucus from the lumen of the cervix appears to be a morphologically heterogeneous entity. It contains different types of secretions, the proportions of which vary throughout the menstrual cycle. The different mucosal types show different types of crystallization, different patterns of ultrastructure (probably related to the arrangement of the glycoprotein network) and are produced in different secretory zones of the crypts in the cervix.
Key words: cervical mucus/ferning/light microscopy/morphology/scanning electron microscopy
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