Objective      To investigate the decrease of endometrial thickness and gland number and the decreased expressions of telomerase

POU5f1

c-kit

and caspase3 in rats with chronic endometrial ischemia.      Methods      The experimental group had 30 8-week-old SD rats with the uterine arteries on both sides ligated to build the animal models of chronic endometrial ischemia

as contrasted with a control group (Sham group). The sexual cycles of the rats were determined by vaginal smear method. The SD rats were killed when entering estrus after 3 months. The endometrial tissue of the rats was collected and treated by HE staining to compare the experimental group and control group in terms of endometrial thickness and gland number. The expressions of telomerase and caspase3 were investigated by immunohistochemistry

the expressions of c-kit

POU5f1

and caspase3 by fluorescence quantitative PCR

and the expressions of telomerase

C-kit

and caspase3 by Western blotting.      Results      The endometrial thickness（502±148）

luminal epithelium thickness（17.20±4.98）

gland epithelium thickness（9.17±1.96）

and gland number （18.9±4.8）in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (800±130

29.46±9.27

15.68±2.50

and 30±5.5

respectively) (P0.05). The expressions of c-kit mRNA and protein (0.23±0.01 and 0.31±0.13) in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the experimental group （1.00±0.06 and 0.75±0.09) (P0.05）. The expressions of caspase3 mRNA and protein (1.43±0.22 and 0.67±0.23) in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group（1.00±0.16 and 0.40±0.08) (P0.05）. The expression of telomerase protein (0.64±0.19) in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group（0.87±0.12） (P0.05）.       Conclusion      Chronic endometrial ischemia and its associated expression decrease of c-kit and telomerase and expression increase of caspase3 may be a factor in the pathogenesis of thin endometrium.