Abstract
Ovarian tissue collected by biopsy procedures allows the performance of many studies with clinical applications in the field of female fertility preservation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of reproductive phase (anestrous vs. diestrous) and ovarian structures (antral follicles and corpus luteum) on the quality, class distribution, number, and density of preantral follicles, and stromal cell density. Ovarian fragments were harvested by biopsy pick-up procedures from mares and submitted to histological analysis. The mean preantral follicle and ovarian stromal cell densities were greater in the diestrous phase and a positive correlation of stromal cell density with the number and density of preantral follicles was observed. The mean area (mm2) of ovarian structures increased in the diestrous phase and had positive correlations with number of preantral follicles, follicle density, and stromal cell density. Biopsy fragments collected from ovaries containing an active corpus luteum had a higher follicle density, stromal cell density, and proportion of normal preantral follicles. In conclusion, our results showed: (1) the diestrous phase influenced positively the preantral follicle quality, class distribution, and follicle and stromal cell densities; (2) the area of ovarian structures was positively correlated with the follicle and stromal cell densities; and (3) the presence of an active corpus luteum had a positive effect on the quality of preantral follicles, and follicle and stromal densities. Therefore, herein we demonstrate that the presence of key ovarian structures favors the harvest of ovarian fragments containing an appropriate number of healthy preantral follicles.
Highlights
The mare has been advocated by many researchers as an appropriate comparative animal model to study antral follicular dynamics in women [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] due to some similarities in reproductive events
The aim of this study was to assess the influence of reproductive phases and ovarian structures on the: (1) quality, class distribution, number, and density of preantral follicles, and (2) stromal cell density in ovarian fragments harvested by biopsy procedure
A total of 142 ovarian fragments were collected by the biopsy pick-up method and 13,462 histological sections were evaluated
Summary
The mare has been advocated by many researchers as an appropriate comparative animal model to study antral follicular dynamics in women [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] due to some similarities in reproductive events (e.g., follicular waves, hormonal concentration changes, age-related decline in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0149693 February 22, 2016Effects of Ovarian Dynamics on Preantral Follicle Features fertility, acyclic conditions, and anovulatory dysfunctions such as cysts or luteinized unruptured follicles/hemorrhagic anovulatory follicles). The mare has been advocated by many researchers as an appropriate comparative animal model to study antral follicular dynamics in women [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] due to some similarities in reproductive events The ovarian parenchyma contains a considerable area of stroma which suffers profound structural changes during the different reproductive phases due to the dynamics of antral follicles and corpus luteum. Studies evaluating the influence of ovarian parenchymal structures such as antral follicles (tertiary and preovulatory follicles) and corpus luteum on the number, density, and quality of preantral follicles are needed
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