TITLE:
Morphology and Chemical Phenotype of the Ovarian Intrinsic Neurons in Neonate and Sexually Mature Reproductive Guinea Pig
AUTHORS:
Félix Luna, Ericka Barrientos, Victorino Alatriste, Isabel Martínez, Ilhicamina D. Limón, Oscar González-Flores
KEYWORDS:
CGRP-, TRPV1-, TH-, NeuN-, cFos-, NADPHd-Positive Cells, Intrinsic Neurons, Guinea Pig Ovary
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Reproductive Sciences,
Vol.3 No.1,
February
5,
2015
ABSTRACT: Introduction: The existence of ovarian intrinsic neurons is well established. However, the morphology and chemical phenotype are not completely characterized and are even unknown for some species used in medical research. The purpose of this work was to determine the morphology and chemical phenotype of intrinsic neurons of the guinea pig ovary at two ages: neonates (0 days old) and sexually mature reproductive animals (90 days old). Materials and Methods: For the morphological analysis, we employed the modified Golgi-Cox impregnation technique. For the chemical phenotype, we used immunohistochemistry and the following antibodies; tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), transient receptor potential type 1 (TRPV1), neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN) and proto-oncogene product of the cFos gene (cFos). We also used enzyme histochemistry for NADPH-diaphorase detection. Results: The number of intrinsic neurons in the neonate ovary was low in comparison to the adult guinea pig ovary. The intrinsic neurons were located in the cortex and the ovarian medulla; some were isolated or clustered, forming ganglia, and others were interconnected and formed networks. The neurons were small, medium or large. In the cortex of neonate vs adult ovaries, the small and medium neurons comprised 23% vs 36% and 5.2% vs 11.6%, respectively. In the medulla, the percent of the same neurons was 10.1% vs 10.1% and 1.1% vs 2.2% in the neonate and adult, respectively. In both cortex and medulla