PRO-OESTRUS IN THE GUINEA-PIG: HORMONAL STIMULATION OF THE VAGINAL EPITHELIUM

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary. Earlier experiments on guinea-pigs are said to demonstrate the essential participation of small amounts of progesterone at normal oestrus. The guinea-pig vagina shows an elaborate proliferation just before oestrus, with stratified epithelial cells at the base, which eventually cornify, and loosely arranged mucified cells next to the lumen. Attempts with different hormones to reproduce this transitory condition in spayed females have shown that it is slow to develop but can be induced by 6 to 12 μg oestradiol benzoate spread over 3 to 4 days. This is enough for full vaginal oestrus including cornification and, in some females, mating. There was no evidence from these experiments of pre-ovulatory progesterone being a significant factor at oestrus.