Endocrine morphology and reproductive function in athymic nude mice

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:6009542

Davidson, K. A.; Holland, J. M.; Hall, J. W.; Gipson, L. C.

Athymic BALB/c nude mice were reared and maintained in a specific pathogen-free (SPF) environment in order to assess the impact of genetic athymia on endocrine morphology and reproductive performance. Mice were killed at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19 weeks of age. Kidneys, testes, ovaries, adrenals, thyroid, and submaxillary gland were processed for histology. Plasma content of estradiol (females) and testosterone (males) was determined. Plasma levels of estradiol and testosterone were comparable in nude and normal mice. The morphology of the ovaries of nude females was similar to normal females although fewer nude females (42%) had corpora lutea at 8 weeks than normal females (84%). Degeneration of the adrenal x-zone was slightly retarded in nude females. The thyroid gland was normal in nude mice; age related changes were observed in both phenotypes. Sexual dimorphism was observed in the morphology of the kidney and submaxillary glands in nude males. The appearance of these dimorphic characteristics corresponded with the appearance of mature spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules of the testes (8 weeks). Male and female nude mice were fertile, however, the survival of young to weaning was less in litters from nude females (28%) than from normal females (42%). These results suggest that abnormalities in endocrine morphology and reproductive performance are less severe in nude mice reared and maintained in SPF environment than those reported by other investigators.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 6009542
• Report Number(s): CONF-790922-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ADRENAL GLANDS
ANDROGENS
ANDROSTANES
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY
BLOOD
BLOOD PLASMA
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA
DATA FORMS
DISEASES
ENDOCRINE DISEASES
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
ESTRADIOL
ESTRANES
ESTROGENS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEMALE GENITALS
FEMALES
FERTILITY
GENETIC VARIABILITY
GLANDS
GONADS
HISTOLOGY
HORMONES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
ISOLATED VALUES
KETONES
KIDNEYS
MALE GENITALS
MALES
MAMMALS
MICE
MORPHOLOGY
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
OVARIES
REPRODUCTION
RODENTS
SALIVARY GLANDS
STEROID HORMONES
STEROIDS
TESTES
TESTOSTERONE
THYROID
VERTEBRATES