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Role of the superior ovarian nerve in the regulation of follicular development and steroidogenesis in the morning of diestrus 1

  • Reproductive physiology and disease
  • Published:
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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank the “Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, UNAM” and CONACyT for the support to carry out this study. The authors thank Roberto Chavira and Mario Cardenas for their help with performing the RIAs to measure steroid and gonadotrophic hormone levels.

Funding

This work was supported by UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT [grant IN-216519] and CONACyT [grant 220291].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza Campus III, UNAM, CP90640, San Miguel Contla, Tlaxcala, Mexico

    Deyra A. Ramírez Hernández

  2. Biology of Reproduction Research Unit, Physiology of Reproduction Laboratory, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, UNAM, AP 9-020, CP15000, Mexico, D. F, Mexico

    Deyra A. Ramírez Hernández, Elizabeth Vieyra Valdez, Gabriela Rosas Gavilán, Rosa Linares Culebro, Julieta A. Espinoza Moreno, Andrea Chaparro Ortega, Roberto Domínguez Casalá & Leticia Morales-Ledesma

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  1. Deyra A. Ramírez Hernández
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Contributions

DAR, RD, and LM-L designed the experiments. DAR and EV performed the experiments. DAR, EV, GR, RL, JAE, ACHO, RD, and LM-L devised the study, participated in the discussion of the results, and co-wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leticia Morales-Ledesma.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All experiments were carried out in strict accordance with the Mexican Law of Animal Treatment and Protection Guidelines and followed the Mexican Official Standard NOM-062-ZOO-1999 specifications. All efforts were made to minimize the number of animals used and their suffering.

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Ramírez Hernández, D.A., Vieyra Valdez, E., Rosas Gavilán, G. et al. Role of the superior ovarian nerve in the regulation of follicular development and steroidogenesis in the morning of diestrus 1. J Assist Reprod Genet 37, 1477–1488 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-020-01787-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-020-01787-6

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