Menstrual cycle of the baboon. II. Endometrial ultrastructure.

Abstract

BS: Cyclic ultrastructural changes in the baboons endometrium were analyzed quantitatively by seriologic measurements of organelles in electron micrographs. Total volumes of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria increase greatly around the time of ovulation. Also individual mitochondria increase in size and nucleoli become more complex. These changes are similar to those in human endometrium. The two changes that are unique to the baboon are a specialized form of endoplasmic reticulum with a multivesicular structure and extremely prominent junctional complexes.