Title: Contribution of the Ovary Versus Hypothalamus-Pituitary to Termination of Estrous Cycles in Aging Rats Using Ovarian Transplants1
Abstract: Vaginal smear patterns were monitored for 80 days after orthotopic ovarian transplants (OvTr) between young and old rats to examine the importance of the ovary and the hypothalamuspituitary in the termination of estrous cyclic activity. At the end of this period, the rats were sacrificed at 2200 h, blood was collected for measurement of ovarian steroids and gonadotropins, and ovaries were prepared for histological study. A second experiment examined the effect of a reduction in ovarian tissue by unilateral ovariectomy of old rats on estrous cyclicity during the first 16 days following surgery.