Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: The ovary shows cyclical events, such as folliculogenesis, ovulation, and luteinization. During these events, leukocytes are known to infiltrate in the ovary. However, the role of each type of leukocytes in the ovary is not fully determined. In order to determine the roles of dendritic cells (DC) in the ovary, we conducted following experiments.

Materials and methods: i) To analyze DC population, immature mice were injected with PMSG followed 48 h later by hCG to make ovarian cycle. Ovaries were taken before PMSG, and at 0, 12, and 24 h post hCG for flow cytometory. ii) To evaluate DC function, CD11c-DTR transgenic mice which enables depletion of CD11c+ DCs were used, and compared with control mice. For study of folliculogenesis, sera and ovaries were collected 48 h post PMSG to evaluate estradiol level and follicle count. For study of luteinization, these were collected at 24 h post hCG to evaluate progesterone level and corpus luteum count. iii) To observe recovery ovarian function after DC depletion, DC depleted mice were left for 2 or 6 weeks to create DC recovered, and ovaries and sera were collected.

Results and discussion: i) The number of DCs is increased in folliculogenesis and luteinization. ii) In DC depleted mice, the folliculogenesis and luteinization were impaired. iii) DC recovery did not restore ovarian function. These facts together with our findings suggest that dysfunction of DC may cause ovarian dysfunction such as luteal deficiency and premature ovarian insufficiency.