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Detecting Biochemical Changes in the Rodent Cervix During Pregnancy Using Raman Spectroscopy

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Abstract

The goal of this research is to determine whether Raman spectroscopy (RS), an optical method that probes the vibrational modes of tissue components, can be used in vivo to study changes in the mouse cervix during pregnancy. If successful, such a tool could be used to detect cervical changes due to pregnancy, both normal and abnormal, in animal models and humans. For this study, Raman spectra were acquired before, during and after a 19-day mouse gestational period. In some cases, after Raman data was obtained, cervices were excised for structural testing and histological staining for collagen and smooth muscle. Various peaks of the Raman spectra, such as the areas corresponding to fatty acid content and collagen organization, changed as the cervix became softer in preparation for labor and delivery. These findings correspond to the increase in compliance of the tissue and the collagen disorganization visualized with the histological staining. The results of this study suggest that non-invasive RS can be used to study cervical changes during pregnancy, labor and delivery and can possibly predict preterm delivery before overt clinical manifestations, potentially lead to more effective preventive and therapeutic interventions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R01-CA-095405, AMJ and HD 044741, BCP) and a predoctoral fellowship (Grant No. T32-HL7751-15) for EV. Special thanks go to Stan Poole and Wais Folad for their help with the structural testing experiments, Xiahong Bi for conversations about Raman peak assignments and Amy Rudin for proofreading this paper.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors of the above manuscript has declared any conflict of interest within the last three years which may arise from being named as an author on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, VU Station B, Box 351631, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA

    Elizabeth Vargis & Anita Mahadevan-Jansen

  2. Division of Neonatology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Naoko Brown, Bibhash C. Paria & Jeff Reese

  3. Department of Gastroenterology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    Kent Williams

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA

    Ayman Al-Hendy

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  1. Elizabeth Vargis
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Correspondence to Anita Mahadevan-Jansen.

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Associate Editor James Tunnell oversaw the review of this article.

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Vargis, E., Brown, N., Williams, K. et al. Detecting Biochemical Changes in the Rodent Cervix During Pregnancy Using Raman Spectroscopy. Ann Biomed Eng 40, 1814–1824 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0541-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0541-4

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