This study aimed to investigate the time course of disappearance of the mRNAs of the various subunits of inhibin in follicles which become atretic. An animal model was used in which atresia of preovulatory follicles could be studied in a chronological order. Injection of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist (20 microg) at the morning of pro-oestrus (P) blocked ovulation and the 10-...

BACKGROUND Apoptosis may operate the 'selection' between follicles destined for atresia and follicles that will remain available for ovulation. The aim of this study is to assess the expression of apoptosis in quiescent follicles. METHODS Ovarian cortex samples from women of reproductive age, fixed in formalin, were used for immunohistochemical and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediat...

Caspase-3 belongs to a family of highly conserved cysteine proteases that mediate the course of apoptotic cell suicide. It is recognized that ovarian follicular atresia is associated with apoptosis, a process that has been characterized mainly in larger antral follicles. The aims of this study were to investigate the expression of caspase-3 in the mouse ovary, and determine whether active caspa...

introduction: pulsatile injection of gnrh in hypothalamic amenorrhea is known to result in ovulation. the aim of this research was to study the effect of non pulsatile gnrh agonist administration on the ovaries of immature rats. material and methods: in this research the immature rats was divided to 7,17 and 27 daysand each were subdivided to four subgroups. subcutaneous injection every 12 hour...

The prevalence of lymphoid follicles in endoscopic biopsy specimens from normal antral mucosa (n = 220), mucosa with reflux gastritis (n = 104), and in cases with Campylobacter pylori-associated gastritis (n = 2544) was studied. In the latter group whether there were associations between degree and activity of gastritis and the prevalence of lymphoid follicles and between the occurrence of lymp...

The importance of the initial follicle pool in fertility in female adult mammals has recently been debated. Utilizing a mathematical model of the dynamics of follicle progression (primordial to primary to secondary), we examined whether the initial follicle pool is sufficient for adult fertility through reproductive senescence in CD1 mice. Follicles in each stage were counted from postnatal day...

Although recent studies have shown that female germ cells can be produced from stem-cell lines in mice, whether these germ cells can interact with ovarian somatic cells (OSCs) to form primordial follicles (PFs) is still unclear. Here, we found after the PF pool is established, Irx3 and FoxL2 which were extensively expressed in the OSCs of the perinatal mouse decreased. Additionally, during prim...

Hydrogel-encapsulating culture systems support the consistent growth of ovarian follicles from various species, such as mouse, non-human primate, and human; however, further innovations are required for the efficient production of quality oocytes from early-stage follicles. In this report, we investigated the coculture of mouse ovarian follicles with mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), commonly...

The size of the ovary varies substantially among cattle. This variation may influence the potential of the ovary to produce follicles. In the present study, we examined whether a relationship exists between the weight of the ovary and the number of antral follicles >or=1 mm. Paired ovaries were obtained from Holstein x Japanese Black F1 heifers. Follicles were classified into three size categor...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of activin-A and follistatin on in vitro primordial and primary follicle development in goats. To study primordial follicle development (experiment 1), pieces of ovarian cortex were cultured in vitro for 5 days in minimal essential medium (MEM) supplemented with activin-A (0, 10 or 100 ng/ml), follistatin (0, 10 or 100 ng/ml) or combin...