Synthesis of steroid hormones in the porcine oviduct during early pregnancy

Past studies of the oviducts have documented oviductal steroid production during the oestrous cycle in pigs. The present study examined whether the pig oviducts are the source of steroid hormones during early pregnancy. In the ampulla and isthmus, the expression of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3βHSD) and aromatase cytochrome P450 (CYP19) mRNA by real-time PCR, cellular localization and quantities of the studied proteins by immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis, and concentration of steroid hormones in oviductal flushings by radioimmunoassay, were studied. The expression of 3βHSD in the ampulla and isthmus was correlated (r = 0.89) and higher on Days 2-3 and 15-16 than on Days 10-11 and 12-13. CYP19 expression was elevated in the ampulla on Days 2-3, 10-11 and 15-16 and in the isthmus on Days 2-3 vs. the other days studied. The studied proteins were localized in oviductal epithelial cells. In the ampulla, the quantity of 3βHSD protein did not change, and was greater in the isthmus on Days 2-3 vs. Days 12-13 of pregnancy. The P450arom protein quantity increased in the ampulla on Days 2-3 vs. Days 10-11 and 15-16 and vs. Days 10-11 and 12-13 in the isthmus. The concentrations of progesterone and androstenedione in oviductal flushings were lowest on Days 12-13 and on Days 2-3 and 15-16, respectively, while oestradiol-17β and oestrone levels did not change. Porcine oviducts are the sources of steroid hormones during early pregnancy. The expression of steroidogenic enzymes primarily increases during the embryos presence in the oviduct, i.e., on Days 2-3 of pregnancy.