title: Disappearance of the ovulation stigma in baboons (Papio anubis, Papio cynocephalus) as determined by serial laparoscopies during the luteal phase.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate how long an ovulation stigma remains visible as determined by serial laparoscopies performed during the luteal phase in baboons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen female baboons with a normal pelvis (n = 6) and with endometriosis (n = 10) housed at the Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-six laparoscopies were carried out before ovulation (n = 7) and serially during the luteal phase (n = 49; 3 +/- 1 per baboon): 1 to 2 days (n = 2), 4 to 5 days (n = 15), 8 to 9 days (n = 11), 12 to 13 days (n = 12), and 16 to 17 days (n = 9) after ovulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  During each laparoscopy the ovaries were screened systematically for the presence and size of an ovulation stigma and/or corpus luteum (CL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  When the laparoscopy was done within 5 days after ovulation, a fresh ovulation stigma was observed in all nine baboons with a normal pelvis or minimal endometriosis, but only in four of seven animals with mild to severe disease. If a fresh ovulation stigma had been observed within 5 days after ovulation (n = 13), it gradually became smaller but remained visible 8 to 9 days after ovulation in 91%, at 12 to 13 days after ovulation in 75%, and at 16 to 17 days after ovulation in 50% of the primates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  If a fresh ovulation stigma was observed in baboons within 5 days after ovulation, it diminished in size but remained visible up to 8, 12, and 16 days after ovulation in 91%, 75%, and 50% of animals, respectively. Therefore, diagnostic laparoscopies for the detection of an ovulation stigma in baboons should be performed in the early luteal phase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproduction, Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: D'Hooghe
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Bambra
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Raeymaekers
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Koninckx
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000473:pathology*; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008183:Luteal Phase / Q000502:physiology*; D010060:Ovulation; D010215:Papio