title: Development and validation of a method for precise dating of female puberty in laboratory rodents: The puberty ovarian maturation score (Pub-Score).
abstract: Puberty is a key developmental event whose primary regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Precise dating of puberty is crucial for experimental (preclinical) studies on its complex neuroendocrine controlling networks. In female laboratory rodents, external signs of puberty, such as vaginal opening (VO) and epithelial cell cornification (i.e., first vaginal estrus, FE), are indirectly related to the maturational state of the ovary and first ovulation, which is the unequivocal marker of puberty. Whereas in rats, VO and FE are almost simultaneous with the first ovulation, these events are not so closely associated in mice. Moreover, external signs of puberty can be uncoupled with first ovulation in both species under certain experimental conditions. We propose herein the Pubertal Ovarian Maturation Score (Pub-score), as novel, reliable method to assess peripubertal ovarian maturation in rats and mice. This method is founded on histological evaluation of pre-pubertal ovarian maturation, based on antral follicle development, and the precise timing of first ovulation, by retrospective dating of maturational and regressive changes in corpora lutea. This approach allows exact timing of puberty within a time-window of at least two weeks after VO in both species, thus facilitating the identification and precise dating of advanced or delayed puberty under various experimental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gaytan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Heras
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barroso
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Avendaño
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Vazquez
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roa
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Córdoba, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba &Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia (IMIBIC/HURS), 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Cordoba, Spain.|FiDiPro Program, Department of Physiology, University of Turku, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tena-Sempere
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D004971:Estrus / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D010060:Ovulation / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014621:Vagina / Q000502:physiology*