Disappearance of the ovulation stigma in baboons (Papio anubis, Papio cynocephalus) as determined by serial laparoscopies during the luteal phase.
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.
D'Hooghe
T M
TM
Department of Reproduction, Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
Bambra
C S
CS
Raeymaekers
B M
BM
Koninckx
P R
PR
D000818:Animals; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000473:pathology*; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008183:Luteal Phase / Q000502:physiology*; D010060:Ovulation; D010215:Papio