Scanning electron microscopy of the fimbriae and ampullae of rabbit oviducts

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Abstract
An initial study of the effects of long‐term ovariectomy on fimbrial and ampullar epithelia from rabbit oviducts has been made with the scanning electron microscope. Several of the rabbits were given estradiol benzoate before they were killed. These observations were compared with those of epithelial cells from similar oviductal segments from post‐ovulatory rabbits that served as controls.Fimbriae from oviducts of control animals were densely ciliated, partially concealing the bulbous processes of the secretory cells. In the ampullae the processes of the secretory cells were the predominant structure, their bulbous apices rising frequently above the tips of the cilia.When rabbits had been spayed for 16–18 months, the epithelial cells of both fimbriae and ampullae showed a remarkable change. A few cilia in small clumps were scattered among the secretory cells. The free surface of the secretory cells had become flattened and hexagonal in shape. Their microvilli were short, and from the center of each cell a thick, stubby central cilium protruded.Estrogen given the long‐term spayed rabbits caused almost complete reciliation as well as restoration of the bulbous processes of the secretory cells.