A comparison between direct and indirect measurements of blood flow in the follicular ovary of the rabbit.
A comparison was carried out between direct and indirect measurements of blood flow in follicular ovaries of anaesthetized laparotomized rabbits: Direct measurements by timed quantitative sampling of ovarian venous blood yielded blood flow values 3 times higher than those found with the use of 15 mugm radioactive microspheres. However, when simulating the surgical trauma associated with direct measurements, the microsphere technique gave the same high ovarian flow values, indicating that this type of trauma caused ovarian hyperemia. It is concluded that direct measurements of blood flow, as performed in the present study, are unsuitable for investigations of circulatory events in the ovary. Mechanically induced ovarian vasodilatation is probably a factor which helps to explain the diverging data on blood flow obtained with direct and indirect methods. The radioactive microsphere technique appears to provide a means for reasonably reliable ovarian blood flow measurements in laboratory animals.
D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D008026:Ligation; D008722:Methods; D008863:Microspheres; D010053:Ovary / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D012039:Regional Blood Flow