Plasminogen activator in rat ovary during the ovulatory process: independence of prostaglandin mediation

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Abstract
To elucidate the possible roles of increased plasminogen activator (PA) in follicular rupture and to investigate whether prostaglandins participate in ovarian PA synthesis in vivo, enzyme activities were sequentially measured by a method using the chromogenic substrate S-2251 in immature rat ovaries primed with pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) followed by human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) either alone or with a concurrent injection of indomethacin. Before hCG injection PA activity was 0·006 ± 0·006 (s.d.) μmol/1·6 mg ovarian tissue (wet wt) per 30 min: PA activity of a saline-treated group remained at low levels (0·05). These results indicate that prostaglandins are not involved in the preovulatory synthesis of PA induced by hCG in rat ovaries and that PA is not a primary proteolytic enzyme for follicular rupture. It is suggested that PA has possible roles in cumulus detachment and/or proliferation of granulosa cells during the ovulatory process.

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