Department of Biomorphology, University G D'Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini 31, Chieti Scalo (CH), Italy.
Reprod Biomed Online. 2010 May;20(5):625-33. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2010.02.009. Epub 2010 Feb 12.
Morphological features of granulosa cells can reflect their functional status. The present study was aimed at comparing possible differences in the fine structure of human granulosa cells exposed to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist or antagonist treatment during ovarian stimulation. Cells were obtained from follicular aspirates of 21 women treated with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (rFSH) plus either a GnRH agonist or a GnRH antagonist. Conventional light microscopy procedures and computerized image analysis systems were used to identify different cell type morphological patterns and to quantify different cells distribution. Two morphologically distinct granulosa cell populations, defined as large/pale and small/dark cells, were identified and a different distribution in the two groups of women under investigation was found: a significantly higher percentage in large/pale cells was detected in the agonist-treated women (P<0.05), whereas the percentage of small/dark cells was significantly higher in the antagonist-treated group (P<0.05). Ultrastructural observations showed the presence in both cell populations of typical hallmarks of steroidogenic cells, highlighting signs of functional activity in the large/pale cell population. Further investigations are needed to define the possible clinical significance of these morphological findings.
颗粒细胞的形态特征可以反映其功能状态。本研究旨在比较在卵巢刺激过程中接受促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）激动剂或拮抗剂治疗的人颗粒细胞的精细结构可能存在的差异。从接受重组卵泡刺激素（rFSH）加 GnRH 激动剂或 GnRH 拮抗剂治疗的 21 名妇女的卵泡抽吸物中获得细胞。使用常规的光镜程序和计算机图像分析系统来识别不同的细胞类型形态模式并量化不同细胞的分布。鉴定出两种形态上明显不同的颗粒细胞群体，定义为大/淡色细胞和小/深色细胞，并发现了两种研究组妇女之间的不同分布：在激动剂治疗的妇女中，大/淡色细胞的比例显著更高（P<0.05），而在拮抗剂治疗组中，小/深色细胞的比例显著更高（P<0.05）。超微结构观察显示两种细胞群体中均存在类固醇生成细胞的典型特征，突出了大/淡色细胞群体的功能活性迹象。需要进一步研究来确定这些形态学发现的可能临床意义。
