title: Proliferating cell nuclear antigen--a marker for ovarian follicle counts.
abstract: Enumerating ovarian follicles is an effective way to estimate the extent of ovarian toxicity in female rodents exposed to xenobiotics. Differential follicle counts are useful in safety assessment bioassays and in interspecies extrapolation of ovarian toxicity. Counting the follicles in H&E-stained sections is labor intensive, tedious, and costly. In the present study we demonstrated that in rat formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded ovary sections follicles of all degrees of maturity can be visualized by the use of antibody directed against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Follicles are easily distinguished from ovarian background with the ability to detect and identify primordial follicles being enhanced. This translates into a significant decrease in variability of follicle counts, labor, and cost. Specifically, variability dropped from 11% to 0.2%, the counting time was reduced by 46%, and the cost by 48%.
authors.affiliation: Toxicologic Pathology Associates at National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, Arkansas 72079, USA. lmuskhelishvili@nctr.fda.gov
authors.forename: Levan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muskhelishvili
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Wingard
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Latendresse
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002452:Cell Count; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006107:Granulosa Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013799:Theca Cells / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen