Canadian Health&Care; Mall

Effects of Culture and Recombinant Mouse KITL Treatment on the Survival of Follicles in Rabbit Ovarian Cortical Explants In preculture rabbit ovarian cortical explants, follicles were generally healthy and showed no signs of atresia. Following 8 days in vitro, approximately 50% of follicles exhibited signs of degeneration (Fig. 5). However, the proportion of total follicles that were healthy in the rabbit ovarian cortical explants did not differ significantly between the cultured treatment groups (Fig. 5). These results indicate that follicle survival was not enhanced by recombinant mouse KITL (50 ng/ml and 150 ng/ml), nor was follicular atresia promoted when the KITL/KIT interaction was inhibited by KITL-neutralizing antibody. Effects of Culture and Recombinant Mouse KITL Treatment on the Distribution of Follicles in Rabbit Ovarian Cortical Explants The proportion of healthy follicles at each stage of development in preculture and cultured rabbit ovarian cortical explants was calculated in order to assess the effects of both culture itself and recombinant mouse KITL treatment on follicle activation and development (Fig. 6). These analyses found that preculture rabbit ovarian cortical explants contained 60.4% 6 3.2% primordial follicles, 35.4% 6 2.7% early primary follicles, 3.1% 6 0.5% primary follicles, and 1.2% 6 0.2% preantral follicles (Fig. 6). FIG. 5. Follicle survival in rabbit ovarian cortical explants. Explants were either fresh tissue or had been cultured for 8 days under various treatment conditions. The proportion (%, mean 6 SEM) of total follicles in rabbit ovarian cortical explants deemed healthy in each treatment group is shown. Values with different superscripts are significantly different at the 95% confidence interval. FIG. 6. The distribution of follicle development in rabbit ovarian cortical explants. Explants were either fresh tissue or had been cultured for 8 days under various treatment conditions. Values within follicle stages with different superscripts are significantly different at the 95% confidence interval. The insert is a representative image of in vitro-cultured rabbit follicles. Original magnification X100.