Honors Program
University Honors
Date of Award
5-2013
Thesis Professor(s)
Allan D. Forsman
Thesis Professor Department
Health Sciences
Thesis Reader(s)
Ranjan Chakraborty, Thomas H. Crofts III
Abstract
This experiment was designed to determine the involvement of varying levels of whole-body irradiation on ovarian follicular and corpora luteal development in mice. Previous research has indicated reduced counts of ovarian follicles and corpora lutea in mice flown in space. These differences may be the result of microgravity, increased exposure to radiation, or some combination of both. Fifty-six mice were divided into three groups (apocynin-treated, nox2 knockout, and wild-type control) before exposure to 0 Gy, 0.5 Gy, or 2.0 Gy radiation. The tissues were harvested, preserved, run through the appropriate paraffin embedding procedures, serially sectioned, mounted on microscope slides, and stained using a standard H&E staining technique. Total and mean follicular and corpora luteal counts were accessed and compared across treatment groups. Mean ovarian weight, mean total reproductive weight, mean ovarian weight percentage of total body weight, mean total reproductive weight percentage of total body weight, and the apparent estrous phase of the animals were also compared. Radiation from 0.5-2.0 Gy had no significant effect on mean ovarian weight, mean total reproductive weight, mean ovarian weight percentage of total body weight, or mean total reproductive weight percentage of total body weight. Radiation from 0.5-2.0 Gy significantly increased mean early-stage follicular count in the wildtype group only. Radiation of 2.0 Gy increased late-stage follicular count across all groups after accounting for mean ovarian percent of total body weight. Radiation of 2.0 Gy significantly increased mean corpora lutea count in the wildtype group only. This result not only suggests that low-dose radiation accelerates oocyte development in the murine ovary, but also that the inaction of NADPH-oxidase (via apocynin inhibition or genetic knockout) may ameliorate some of these effects.
Document Type
Honors Thesis - Withheld
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Poole, Jacob Marion, "Ovarian Modifications in Mice Exposed to Whole-Body Irradiation." (2013). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 99. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/99
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.