Summary
An electron-microscopic investigation, based on the suggestion that differences seen in progesterone levels under differing hormonal conditions might be reflected in the ultrastructural organisation of the lutein cells of the guinea-pig was undertaken. Comparisons were made between corpora lutea taken from animals during the normal oestrous cycle, pregnancy and lactation, and after hysterectomy or hypophysectomy.
The lutein cells from the oestrous cycle corpus luteum appeared to be of two types, “light” and “dark”. The former were more numerous. The main difference between them lay in the arrangement of the endoplasmic reticulum. Lutein cells from corpora lutea (with the exception of the “old” degenerating corpora lutea) all contained well-developed agranular endoplasmic reticulum, little granular endoplasmic reticulum, several electron-dense lipid granules, lysosomal bodies which ranged from small spherical bodies to large autophagic vesicles and mitochondria. The mitochondria were numerous, and in the corpus luteum of pregnancy, they were closely associated with the parallel arrays of granular endoplasmic reticulum.
With minor exceptions, the lutein cells of the guinea-pig present a strikingly uniform picture despite their hormonal condition.
The manner in which this uniformity of ultrastructure may be related to observed differences in progesterone levels in the corpus luteum of the guinea-pig is discussed.
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Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) Scholar.
The authors wish to thank Dr. J. S. Perry for doing the surgery involved in this work and for the specimens of “corpora lutea of hysterectomy”. They are also grateful to him for his helpful discussions and interest throughout.
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Crombie, P.R., Burton, R.D. & Ackland, N. The ultrastructure of the corpus luteum of the guinea-pig. Z. Zellforsch. 115, 473–493 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335714
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335714