Uteroglobin and Other Endometrial Proteins: Biochemistry and Biological Significance in Beginning Pregnancy

Abstract

The fluids of male and female genital tracts were considered by the scientists of the 16th and 17th century to represent the male and female “semen”. They believed that the fusion of male and female semen resulted in the formation of an embryo, obviously emerging from the semen pool within the cavity of the uterus. Ham and Leeuwenhoek detected in 1677 (cited by Bargmann 1967) that the male semen fluid contained the spermatozoa, which immediately were referred to as the male germ cells. However, the female gamete was lacking, and consequently von Haller (cited by Bodemer 1969), the leading physiologist of his time, taught that a fluid was delivered from the ovary into the fallopian tube, then flooding the uterine cavity and giving rise to the oocyte by a process of coagulation. It was not until 1827 that von Baer finally detected and described properly the mammalian oocyte and its ovulation from the ovary. This discovery put an end to the theories of “uterine oocytes”. At the same time, however, the old question was again open, of whether or not the genital tract fluids, and in particular the uterine secretion, have a certain biological significance. Von Baer (1827) extended his studies on early mammalian development logically to the search for human early embryonic stages. When dissecting the cadaver of a young woman who had committed suicide through fear of being pregnant and not being married, von Baer investigated the uterus at 8 days after the supposed conception. He described the contents of the opened uterus as being a viscous and mucous fluid, most likely containing much protein.