Table 3.
21-day and 50-day mean (±SE) healthy ovarian follicular counts.
| Treatment | Age | Primordial follicles | # Primary | # Secondary | # Antral | # Mature | Corpus luteum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | (21d) | n.c | 28.0 ± 3.7 | 63.3 ± 6.3 | 111.1 ± 8.8 | 2.5 ± 0.6 | n.a. |
| S-(−)equol | (21 d) | n.c. | 35.0 ± 5.4 | 62.1 ± 6.4 | 109.4 ± 6.0 | 2.9 ± 1.1 | n.a. |
| R-(+)equol | (21 d) | n.c. | 32.8 ± 3.7 | 59.1 ± 7.3 | 142.1 ± 10.9a | 3.3 ± 0.5 | n.a. |
| Control | (50 d) | 162.1 ± 41.1 | 50.4 ± 12 | 77.0 ± 7.6 | 71.9 ± 15.6 | 8.3 ± 0.8 | 25.5 ± 2.5 |
| S-(−)equol | (50 d) | 186.8 ± 50.1 | 45.3 ± 8.1 | 73.9 ± 9.1 | 66.6 ± 5.7 | 9.9 ± 1.3 | 31.9 ± 2.7 |
| R-(−)equol | (50 d) | 303.8 ± 40.0b | 56.5 ± 10.4 | 73.2 ± 10.6 | 72.2 ± 10.3 | 14.8 ± 4.7 | 26.8 ± 2.7 |
n.c.: not counted and n.a.: not applicable.
a
p = < 0.05 R-(+)equol-treated pups had more healthy antral follicles than control or S-(−)equol-treated pups.
b
p = 0.05 R-(+)equol-treated pups had more healthy primordial follicles than controls.