Table 2. Percentages of positivity to col I, col III and fibrillin according to hormone level.
Percentage (%) of positivity to anti-col I, anti-col III, and anti-fibrillin antibodies of an in vitro cell culture of fascial fibroblasts, treated for 48h with various levels of β-estradiol (β estr), relaxin-1 (RX1), or β-estradiol and relaxin-1 (β estr + RX1). Control cells (ctrl) were incubated in cell culture medium without serum and without hormone treatment. Values are means and standard deviations of at least three independent experiments, analysed by ImageJ software. Underlined values are not significantly different from corresponding control value. All other values had a statistically significant difference: p<0.05, Student’s t test, treated vs. controls.
| Col-I (%) | Col-III (%) | Fibrillin (%) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| β estr | RX1 | β estr+ RX1 | β estr | RX1 | β estr+RX1 | β estr | RX1 | β estr+RX1 | |
| Ctrl | 5.2±0.05 | 2.4±0.04 | 0.5±0.04 | ||||||
| post-menopausal | 8.4±2.9 | / | / | 1.5±0.6 | / | / | 0.2±0.1 | / | / |
| follicular | 6±2.4 | 1.7±0.05 | 1.6±0.5 | 6.5±1.6 | 0.9±0.01 | 0.5±0.1 | 2.1±0.6 | 1.1±0.06 | 1±0.2.1 |
| periovulatory | 1.9±1.0 | 1.7±0.04 | 2.6±0.4 | 6.8±1.3 | 0.9±0.05 | 0.8±0.3 | 3±0.7 | 1.1±0.06 | 1±0.3 |
| pregnancy | 1.9±0.9 | 1±0.04 | 1.4±0.2 | 6.7±1.8 | 1.1±0.01 | 2.5±0.8 | 3.6±1.1 | 2.1±0.1 | 0.6±0.1 |