The follicles (1.8 to 7.8 mm in diameter) were recovered from the ovaries in marketed pigs and the number of granulosa cells, the diameter of oocytes obtained from different development stages of the follicles and follicular fluid levels were determined. Correlations between size measurements and cell counts as well as the diameter of antral follicles and oocytes were also investigated. The res...

Parabens are widely used preservatives in basic necessities such as cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. In previous studies, xenoestrogenic actions of parabens were reported in an immature rat model and a rat pituitary cell line (GH3 cells). The relationship between parabens and ovarian failure has not been described. In the present study, the influence of parabens on ovarian folliculogenesis...

Changes in follicular development of the ovary at 105, 140 and 175 d of age were observed on 48 prepuberal Yorkshire and Hampshire gilts raised on two planes of nutrition. The follicles from the left ovary were counted and measured by histological techniques. Both the nonatretic and the atretic (more than four pyknotic bodies) antral follicles were classified into six categories according to si...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of reproductive hormones in blood plasma and in follicular fluids of different sized follicles during various stages of the estrous cycle in Holstein cattle. Jugular blood samples from 42 adult Holstein cattle were collected immediately after the slaughter. Antral fluids from small (4-5 mm), medium (6-9 mm) and large (10-20 mm) follicles ...

BACKGROUND Natriuretic peptides (NPs), brain and C type NPs (BNP and CNP), were involved in the maintenance of porcine oocyte meiotic arrest. The present study investigated the effects of NPs on developmental competence of immature porcine oocytes with follicles of different sizes. METHODS Follicular fluid NP levels were examined by radioimmunoassay. The developmental competence of porcine oo...

Growth factors of endocrine and/or paracrine origin play determinant roles in antral follicular development. They modulate survival, proliferation and differentiation of follicular cells, acting in interaction with gonadotropins. It is thought that factors belonging to the families of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I and -II), epidennal growth factor (EGF and TGF-a) and fibroblast growth f...

Ovarian stimulation is usually carried out with exogenous gonadotropins to induce multiple follicle development and to mature more oocytes for in vitro Fertilization (IVF) [1]. According to the traditional folliculogenesis, antral follicles in each ovary are recruited from the late luteal phase of the preceding menstrual cycle for the following follicle phase. The dominant follicle is selected ...

AMH is synthesized specifically by granulose cells of developing ovarian preantral and small antral follicles. Circulating AMH levels in women with PCOS are 2to 3-fold more compared to ovulatory women with normal ovaries [6,7], which denotes to the 2to 3-fold rise in the count of small follicles detected in PCOS. The excessive AMH has been hypothesized to decrease follicle sensitivity to FSH in...

This study aimed to evaluate mRNA levels of angiotensin II (ANG II) receptors (AGTR1 and AGTR2) in caprine follicles and to investigate the influence of ANG II on the viability and in vitro growth of preantral follicles. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to quantify AGTR1 and AGTR2 mRNA levels in the different follicular stages. For culture, caprine ovaries were collected, cut ...

The aims of this study were to verify the steady-state level of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) mRNA in goat follicles at various developmental stages and to investigate the influence of VIP on the survival, antrum formation and growth of secondary follicles cultured for 6 days. Primordial, primary and secondary goat follicles and small and large antral follicles were obtained to quantify V...