A CYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF LIPIDS IN SOWS’ OVARIES DURING THE ESTROUS CYCLE12

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Abstract
THE present study concerns the lipids in sows’ ovaries, investigated by a group of cytochemical tests which characterizes steroid-producing cells. Earlier, Dempsey and Bassett (1943) and MacKay and Robinson (1947) employed similar tests to investigate the ovaries of rats and of humans. Sows’ ovaries are readily available, and Corner’s (1921) measurements of the relative sizes of their follicles and corpora lutea during the several phases of the estrous cycle permit one to date the ovaries without recourse to vaginal smears. The sow, like the human, has a long reproductive cycle (21 days) with a typical luteal phase, and its ovary also contains relatively little interstitial tissue. By the study of a suitably large number of specimens from different phases of the cycle, it was hoped that the sites of hormone production as well as the periods of most active secretion could be ascertained. materials and methods Determination of the stage of the cycle.