Abstract
Amongst the varieties of procedures which have been adopted for controlling birth rate, the intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUCD) has a very prominent place. The IUCD has been found to be effective as a contraceptive device in several studies (1 — 4) and several theories have been proposed to explain its mechanism of action. Recently it has been suggested that the presence of IUCD in the rat uterus leads to an increase in the local mast cell population, and this may be an important factor in its mechanism of contraceptive action (5). It was further proposed that increase in number of mast cells might be directly responsible for prevention of nidation, as injection of comp. 48/80 a compound which is known to disrupt mast cells, at times allowed conception to take place even in the presence of the device.
In view of the importance of the problem, the mast cell population in human uterus after insertion of the IUCD was studied.
