Figure 1.

Dose-dependent effect of melatonin on TI in small follicles. (A) The expression of CYP17A1 and FSHR was determined by PCR. (B) Differences in MT1 and MT2 mRNA expression in TI of different follicles. Relative abundance of mRNA of (C) MT1 and (D) MT2, and (E) production of androstenedione and (F) progesterone in small follicles. Total RNA was extracted from TI. The mRNA expression of MT1 and MT2 was measured by RT-qPCR. The expression of GAPDH level was used as a standard. Small follicles were treated for 48 h with different doses of melatonin (0, 1, 10, 100 ng/mL). The concentration of androstenedione and progesterone was measured by ELISA. The results are the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. n.s.: not significant; S: small follicles; M: medium follicles; L: large follicles.