INADEQUACY OF THE VAGINAL SMEAR IN THE RAT AS AN INDEX OF OVARIAN DYSFUNCTION CAUSED BY DIET

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Abstract
Evidence has been presented in several previous reports that typical uterine oestrus is not always associated with vaginal oestrus [Freed and Soskin, 1937; Freed, Mesirow, and Soskin, 1937, 1938]. Examinations of uterus and vagina simultaneously, under various experimental conditions, have revealed that in the presence of a fully cornified vaginal smear the uterine response to ovarian oestrogens may be absent or 'partial' (i.e. gross uterine atrophy with proliferated endometrial epithelium or gross uterine hypertrophy with infantile endometrial epithelium). To account for the reactions described, we have postulated that the rat ovary elaborates various 'factors' or incomplete oestrogens which, operating together, are responsible for the complete oestrous phenomenon. From this viewpoint the 'oestrous' picture is not a simple reaction to a single oestrogenic hormone, but is a composite of several partial oestrous responses induced by these factors. Since the uterine response during vaginal oestrus cannot be predicted, we have concluded that

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