THE NUMBER OF OOCYTES IN OVARIAN FRAGMENTS AFTER COMPENSATORY HYPERTROPHY

Abstract

Fifty-eight female rats belonging to thirteen litters were subjected to the following treatments: A: right ovary removed; more than half of left ovary resected. B: right ovary removed; left ovary untreated. C: same as A, but remaining fragment of left ovary painted with tannic acid in order to destroy the germinal epithelium. D: right ovary removed; surface of whole left ovary painted with tannic acid. The animals were killed 50–136 days after operation, and the number of oocytes counted in the whole left ovary or in the parts of the left ovary removed at operation and autopsy. The number of oocytes in the right ovary was estimated in one animal from each litter. Compensatory hypertrophy occurred in the left ovary or left ovarian fragment, but the number of oocytes did not increase. Tannic acid had no noticeable effect on the numbers of oocytes. The ovarian fragments contained a disproportionately high number of Graafian follicles, and the rate of loss of oocytes appears to increase inversely with the amount of ovarian tissue left in the body.