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Effect of chronic treatment with [D-Ala6, des-Gly-NH2 10]LHRH ethylamide on ovarian histology in the rat

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Summary

The effect of chronic treatment with the LHRH agonist [D-Ala6, des-Gly-NH2 10]LHRH ethylamide (LHRH-A) on ovarian histology was studied in adult female rats injected with 5 μg of the peptide, once every second day, for 0, 2,4 or 8 weeks. Using light microscopy, we examined the number of small, medium, large and atretic follicles, as well as the number of normal and regressing corpora lutea. Using the point-counting method, we measured the relative surface occupied by luteal cells. It was found that treatment with LHRH-A for up to 8 weeks led to no significant change in any of the parameters studied. Moreover, resumed meiotic maturation of an abnormally high number of atypical fragmentations of the ova could not be observed. At least at the dose used, the LHRH agonist does not appear to induce any histological alteration in ovarian morphology and supports the potential clinical use of LHRH agonists as a new approach in femal contraception and for the treatment of estrogendependent pathologies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Research Council Group in Molecular Endocrinology, Le Centre Hospitalier de l'Université Laval, Québec, Canada

    C. Séguin, G. Pelletier & F. Labrie

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  1. C. Séguin
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  2. G. Pelletier
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  3. F. Labrie
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Séguin, C., Pelletier, G. & Labrie, F. Effect of chronic treatment with [D-Ala6, des-Gly-NH2 10]LHRH ethylamide on ovarian histology in the rat. Cell Tissue Res. 227, 213–219 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00206342

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