{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T19:52:50Z","timestamp":1792180370279,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,7]],"date-time":"2023-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1691366400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":6,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000057","name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1K08GM135638\u201001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1K08GM135638\u201001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000057","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Physiological Reports"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Loss of estrogen as a result of aging, pelvic cancer therapy, genetics, or eating disorders affects numerous body systems including the reproductive tract. Specifically, a chronic hypoestrogenic state fosters debilitating vaginal symptoms like atrophy, dryness, and dyspareunia. Current treatment options, including vaginal estrogen and hyaluronan (HA), anecdotally improve symptoms, but rectifying mechanisms are largely understudied. In order to study the hypoestrogenic vaginal environment, in particular the extracellular matrix (ECM), as well as understand the mechanisms behind current treatments and develop new therapies, we characterized a reliable and reproducible animal model. Bilateral ovariectomies (OVX) were performed on 9\u2010week\u2010old CD1 mice. After 1\u2009month of estrogen loss due to ovarian removal, a phenotype that is similar to human vaginal tissue in an estrogen reduced state was noted in mice compared to sham\u2010operated controls. The uterine to body weight ratio decreased by 80% and vaginal epithelium was significantly thinner in OVX compared to sham mice. Estrogen signaling was altered in OVX, but submucosal ER\u03b1 localization did not reach statistical differences. HA localization in the submucosal area was altered and CD44 expression decreased in OVX mice. Collagen turn\u2010over was altered following OVX. The inflammation profile was also disrupted, and submucosal vaginal CD45<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> and F4\/80<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> cell populations were significantly reduced in the OVX mice. These results show altered cellular and molecular changes due to reduced estrogen levels. Developing new treatments for hypoestrogenic vaginal symptoms rely on better understanding of not only the cellular changes, but also the altered vaginal ECM environment. Further studies using this mouse model has the potential to advance women's vaginal health treatments and aid in understanding the interplay between organ systems in both healthy, aged, and diseased states.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.14814\/phy2.15762","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,8]],"date-time":"2023-08-08T00:29:19Z","timestamp":1691454559000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Cellular and extracellular vaginal changes following murine ovarian removal"],"prefix":"10.14814","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9309-6192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jennifer M.","family":"McCracken","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine  Houston Texas USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gisele A.","family":"Calderon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine  Houston Texas USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Quynh N.","family":"Le","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine  Houston Texas USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natasha M.","family":"Faruqui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine  Houston Texas USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Swathi","family":"Balaji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery Division of Pediatric Surgery Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine  Houston Texas USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie C. 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