Abstract
Ovaries of neonatal rats were transplanted on the day after birth into ovariectomized (high gonadotrophin levels) or ovariectomized-hypophysectomized adult female rats (extremely low gonadotrophin levels). Although transplantation caused a reduction of the number of growing follicles in all transplants, it did not seem to induce a clearly abnormal course of follicle development. After 15 days of development, the hormone-rich transplants contained a greater number of follicles larger than type 4 and a smaller number of oocytes with diameters less than 21 micrometers, than did the hormone-poor transplants. In the transplants with high hormone levels, the smallest follicles (types 2--3a) showed advanced transition of flattened into cuboidal follicle cells and oocyte growth. It is concluded that in these experimental conditions gonadotrophins, presumably especially FSH, seem to have a stimulatory effect on early follicle cell development and early oocyte growth.

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