Gastal G D A, Hamilton A, Alves B G, de Tarso S G S, Feugang J M, Banz W J, Apgar G A, Nielsen C K, Gastal E L
Department of Animal Science, Food and Nutrition, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America.
Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 May 25;12(5):e0177357. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177357. eCollection 2017.
The knowledge about ovarian reserve is essential to determine the reproductive potential and to improve the methods of fertility control for overpopulated species, such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on the female reproductive tract of white-tailed deer, focusing on ovarian features. Genital tracts from 8 prepubertal and 10 pubertal females were used to characterize the preantral follicle population and density, morphology, distribution of follicular classes; stromal cell density; and apoptosis in the ovary. In addition, uterus and ovary weights and dimensions were recorded; and the number and the size of antral follicles and corpus luteum in the ovary were quantified. Overall, fawns had a greater (P < 0.05) preantral follicle population, percentage of normal follicles, and preantral follicle density than does. The mean stromal cell density in ovaries of fawns and does differed among animals but not between age groups. The apoptotic signaling did not differ (P > 0.05) between the ovaries of fawns and does. However, apoptotic ovarian cells negatively (P < 0.001) affected the preantral follicle morphology and density, and conversely, a positive correlation was observed with stromal cell density. As expected, the uteri and ovaries were larger (P < 0.002) and heavier (P < 0.001) in does than in fawns. In conclusion, this study has shown, for the first time, the preantral follicle population and distribution of classes, rate of morphologically normal follicles, and density of preantral follicles and stromal cells in white- tailed deer. Therefore, the findings herein described lead to a better understanding of the white-tailed deer ovarian biology, facilitating the development of new methods of fertility control.
了解卵巢储备对于确定繁殖潜力以及改进诸如白尾鹿（弗吉尼亚鹿）等种群数量过多物种的生育控制方法至关重要。本研究的目的是评估年龄对白尾鹿雌性生殖道的影响，重点关注卵巢特征。使用8只青春期前和10只青春期雌性的生殖道来表征窦前卵泡数量和密度、形态、卵泡类别分布；基质细胞密度；以及卵巢中的细胞凋亡情况。此外，记录子宫和卵巢的重量及尺寸；并对卵巢中窦状卵泡和黄体的数量及大小进行量化。总体而言，幼鹿的窦前卵泡数量、正常卵泡百分比和窦前卵泡密度均高于成年雌鹿（P < 0.05）。幼鹿和成年雌鹿卵巢中的平均基质细胞密度在不同动物之间存在差异，但在年龄组之间无差异。幼鹿和成年雌鹿卵巢之间的凋亡信号无差异（P > 0.05）。然而，卵巢凋亡细胞对窦前卵泡形态和密度有负面影响（P < 0.001），相反，与基质细胞密度呈正相关。正如预期的那样，成年雌鹿的子宫和卵巢比幼鹿更大（P < 0.002）且更重（P < 0.001）。总之，本研究首次展示了白尾鹿窦前卵泡数量和类别分布、形态正常卵泡的比例、窦前卵泡和基质细胞的密度。因此，本文所述的研究结果有助于更好地理解白尾鹿的卵巢生物学，促进生育控制新方法的开发。
