[Ultrastructure of the luteal cells of female cattle].

An ultrastructural study to the corpus luteum (CL) from 263 non pregnant female cattle slaughtered in slaughter-houses of León (Spain) was done. The luteal cells are classified in five types, noted with roman numbers. We made a comparison between these cells and the cells described in the literature. We believe that luteal cells have a development from type I to V, the first type is the principal inside the developing CL. The types II and III are in the mature CL, and the two last types are in the degenerating CL. It will be the same cell in different stages of development. We did not find characteristic structures to differentiate luteal cells originating from the granulosa or the theca.