Influence of a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist and gonadotrophins on morphometric characteristics of the population of small ovarian follicles in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)
in ReproductionSummary. Small follicles, ⩽ 100 μm, in monkey ovaries were divided into four types based on the morphological characteristics of the granulosa cells that surrounded the oocyte: primordial, intermediary, primary and secondary follicles. The proportion of primordial follicles positively correlated, whereas those of intermediary, primary and secondary follicles negatively correlated, with the total number of follicles ⩽ 100 μm. There was no relationship between the population of nongrowing follicles (primordial and intermediary) and that of early-growing follicles (primary and secondary). Administration of exogenous gonadotrophins did not induce significant changes in the population of small follicles, whereas there was a significant increase in the number of intermediary follicles when gonadotrophins were associated with a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist, buserelin. Buserelin can therefore partly inhibit the initiation of ovarian follicular growth in monkeys.
Keywords: small ovarian follicles; buserelin; gonadotrophin; monkey
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