Figure 2.

Neuronal SIRT1 regulated reproduction in female mice. Data for N-MUT mice are shown in red, in white for WT littermates, and green for N-OX mice in green. (A) Day of vaginal opening (n = 8 for N-MUT; n = 40 for WT; n = 18 for N-OX). (B) Day of first estrous (n = 8 for N-MUT; n = 41 for WT; n = 21 for N-OX). (C) Number of estrous cycles by vaginal lavage over 6 wk (n = 6 for N-MUT; n = 11 for WT; n = 5 for N-OX). (D) Cycle length during the 6 wk (n = 44 for N-MUT; n = 74 for WT; n = 19 for N-OX). (E) Relative-frequency histogram of cycle lengths. (F) Percentage of d spent in each stage of the estrous cycle during the 6-wk cycling (n = 6 for N-MUT; n = 11 for WT; n = 5 for N-OX). Two-way ANOVA indicated significant stage effect (P < 0.0001) and significant interaction of stage and genotype (P < 0.0001). (G) FSH levels during diestrus, the morning of proestrus (Pro-AM), the afternoon of proestrus (Pro-PM), and the morning of estrus (n = 8 for N-MUT; n = 16 for WT; n = 8 for N-OX). Two-way ANOVA indicated significant stage effect (P = 0.015) and significant interaction of stage and genotype (P = 0.013). (H) LH levels during diestrus, the morning of proestrus, and the morning of estrus (n = 8 for N-MUT; n = 16 for WT; n = 8 for N-OX). Two-way ANOVA indicated significant stage effect (P = 0.013) but no interaction of stage and genotype. (I) LH levels during the afternoon of proestrus (n = 8 for N-MUT; n = 16 for WT; n = 8 for N-OX). Proestrus LH values did not follow a normal distribution, so N-OX mice had significantly lower LH levels than did WT mice by Kruskal-Wallis test (P = 0.033). (J) Progesterone levels during the afternoon of proestrus (n = 7 for WT; n = 7 for N-OX). (K) Days to plug, days to first litter, and litter size during fertility test (n = 3 for N-MUT; n = 11 for WT; n = 6 for N-OX). Data are reported as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 vs WT or as indicated.