PURPOSE Little is known about the role of the superior ovarian nerve (SON) in follicular development during the estrus cycle. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of neural signals arriving through the SON at the ovaries in the regulation of follicular development and ovarian steroid secretion in diestrus 1 of cyclic rats. METHODS Cyclic rats were subjected to left, right, or bilateral SON sectioning or to unilateral or bilateral laparotomy at diestrus 1 at 11:00 h. Animals were sacrificed 24 h after surgery. RESULTS Compared to laparotomized animals, unilateral SON sectioning decreased the number of preovulatory follicles, while bilateral SON sectioning resulted in a decreased number of atretic preantral follicles. An important observation was the presence of invaginations in the follicular wall of large antral and preovulatory follicles in animals with denervation. Furthermore, left SON sectioning increased progesterone levels but decreased testosterone levels, which are effects that were not observed in animals that were subjected to right denervation. CONCLUSIONS At 11:00 h of diestrus 1, the SON was found to stimulate follicle development, possibly via neural signals, such as noradrenaline and/or vasoactive intestinal peptide, and this stimulation induced the formation of follicle-stimulating hormone receptors. The role of the SON in the regulation of ovarian steroid secretion is asymmetric: the left SON inhibits the regulation of progesterone and stimulates testosterone secretion, and the right nerve does not participate in these processes.

中文翻译：

---

卵巢上神经在发情间期早晨卵泡发育和类固醇生成调节中的作用1。

目的 人们对卵巢上神经 (SON) 在发情周期卵泡发育中的作用知之甚少。本研究的目的是分析通过 SON 到达卵巢的神经信号在周期性大鼠发情间期 1 中卵泡发育和卵巢类固醇分泌的调节中的作用。方法 对周期性大鼠进行左、右或双侧 SON 切片，或在发情间期 1 11:00 h 进行单侧或双侧剖腹手术。手术后24小时处死动物。结果 与剖腹动物相比，单侧 SON 切片减少了排卵前卵泡的数量，而双侧 SON 切片则导致闭锁窦前卵泡的数量减少。一个重要的观察结果是，在去神经支配的动物中，大窦和排卵前卵泡的卵泡壁存在内陷。此外，左侧SON切片增加了孕酮水平，但降低了睾酮水平，这是在接受右侧去神经支配的动物中未观察到的效果。结论 在发情间期 1 的 11:00 小时，SON 被发现可能通过去甲肾上腺素和/或血管活性肠肽等神经信号刺激卵泡发育，并且这种刺激诱导卵泡刺激激素受体的形成。SON在调节卵巢类固醇分泌中的作用是不对称的：左侧SON抑制孕激素的调节并刺激睾酮分泌，而右侧神经不参与这些过程。