Ovarian blood flow and progesterone secretion in the anaesthetized rats at day 16 of gestation, and the effects of haemorrhage.

A venous outflow technique was used to estimate the rate of progesterone secretion from the ovary of rats on Day 16 of gestation. In 9 normal rats the rate of progesterone secretion was 13.7 microgram/h per ovary and ovarian blood flow was 0.48 ml/min. In 6 rats in which haemorrhage had occurred the respective values were 38.3 microgram/h per ovary and 0.53 ml/min. Comparison with earlier reports suggests that ovarian blood flow can be substantially reduced for short periods without affecting progesterone secretion.