Evolution of NMRI mice ovaries and corpora lutea during pregnancy: morphologic and morphometric study.
During pregnancy in mice, three groups of corpora lutea (CL) originating from 4 successive ovulatory cycles could be distinguished taking into account their size, cellular structure and stain affinity. Type I CL originated at the onset of pregnancy, type II CL originated during the 2 previous estrous cycles and type III CL were produced during a cycle preceding the two others. CL volume of type I increased 10-fold between day 0 and day 18.5, a 2.5-fold increase in volume occurred in type II CL between day 0 and day 3, although they derived from cycles preceding pregnancy. The volume of type III remained unchanged. This fact suggested that types I and II CL probably play a functional role in the ongoing pregnancy. After day 10 of pregnancy a high correlation coefficient (r = 0.933) is observed between type I CL and the number of embryos in the corresponding uterine horn.
Psalti
I
I
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Loumaye
E
E
Rahier
J
J
Haumont
S
S
Thomas
K
K
D000818:Animals; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D010060:Ovulation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal