Figure 3.

Histological analysis of ovaries, estrous cycles, and hormone levels from adult Flox and BKO mice. (A) Hematoxylin and eosin stained sections of ovaries from 13-week-old mice. Arrows indicate hemorrhagic corpora lutea. (B) Percentage of days in metestrus/diestrus, estrus, or proestrus [mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM)]. Flox mice are shown in white, and BKO mice are shown in green. (C) Distribution of estrous cycle length in Flox and BKO mice. Cycle length was defined as the end of estrus to the end of the next estrus. (D) Number of cycles with prolonged diestrus. A prolonged diestrus stage was defined as greater than 3 or 4 days of metestrus or diestrus (mean ± SEM). BKO mice showed a greater number of prolonged cycles (genotype effect, P = 0.005 by 2-way ANOVA). (E) Individual plasma LH levels measured at 6 pm on the day of proestrus. (F) Plasma LH values separated into mice that showed an LH surge and those that did not. Individual values are shown along with mean ± SEM. (G) Pituitary Lhb mRNA expression by qPCR. (H) Number of oocytes released following induction of ovulation. Asterisks indicate statistical significance as indicated by Student t test or post hoc testing following 2-way ANOVA (*P < 0.05). Est, estrus; Met+Di, mestestrus/diestrus; Pro, proestrus; WT, wild type.