Histological Examination of the Rat Ovarian Follicle Wall Prior to Ovulation

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The histological changes occurring in rat ovarian follicle walls prior to ovulation were studied by light and electron microscopy. Follicles were collected at 0, 5, 10, and 11 h after the administration of HCG to stimulate ovulation, and also at what was judged to be the instant before rupture from ovaries that were exteriorized in a plastic chamber for direct observation. The earliest morphological change detected was the leakage of erythrocytes from blood vessels, and thus their presence, presumably along with plasma, in the intercellular spaces of the follicle walls. Somewhat later, occasional theca cells died and degenerated, and slight signs of cytolysis appeared at the surface of all cell types. The tunica albuginea often became loose, with a large increase in the extent of extracellular space between cells. A conspicuous feature of follicle walls near the time of ovulation was the rounding up and detachment from the follicle wall of apparently healthy granulosa and theca cells; at ovulation the granulosa layer was absent from the stigma. Clumps of fibrin were commonly found in the extracellular space of the follicle wall and in follicular fluid, as was debris from degenerating cells. The final change noted before ovulation was the degeneration and loss of peritoneal epithelial cells. No collagen could be detected in follicle walls at any time.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: