Figure 5.

Ovarian function of mice fed a VAD diet. A, The effects of the VAD diet on the ovulation of hormone-treated mice. Mice fed normal diet (control) and VAD diet were injected with eCG. After 48 hours, these mice were further treated with hCG. For 24 hours after hCG injection, the ovulated oocytes were collected from oviducts and then the number of them was counted. Values are mean ± SEM of 4 mice. *, Significant differences are observed as compared with those in control mice (P < .05). B, The expression of genes known to be markers of follicular development, Cyp19a1 and Lhcgr, in granulosa cells of control mice and VAD mice injected with eCG and/or RA. For reference, the eCG 0 hours values are set as 1, and the data are presented as fold induction. *, Significant differences are observed between control (C) and VAD groups (P < .05); **, the addition of RA to VAD mice (RA+VAD) significantly increased the expression of Lhcgr in VAD mice (P < .05). Values are mean ± SEM of three replicates. RA, coinjection with eCG and RA (2.5 mg/kg) for 48 hours. C, The expression of genes known to be the target of the LH-LH receptor (LHR)-dependent pathway in granulosa cells of control mice and VAD mice injected with hCG for 4 hours. For reference, the hCG 0 hour values are set as 1, and the data are presented as fold induction. *, Significant differences are observed as compared with those in ovaries of mice fed normal diet between control and VAD mice. Values are mean ± SEM of three replicates.