Research Paper Volume 10, Issue 3 pp 463—480

Figure 2. Melatonin promotes the delay of cyst breakdown and primordial follicles assembly progression in nicotine-exposed ovaries. (A) Number of primordial follicles in one section after 5 days intraperitoneally injected nicotine at incresing dosage (1 and 5 mg per kg of body weight per day). (B) Representative image of germ cell cyst breakdown and primordial follicle assembly alignment in control, intraperitoneally injected 1 mg/kg nicotine and intraperitoneally injected 1 mg /kg nicotine plus 1μM melatonin pups. Oocytes are stained green with anti-Mvh antibody, nuclei of oocytes and pregranulosa cells are stained red with PI. (C) Number of oocytes in one section after 5 days intraperitoneally injected nicotine. (D) Percentage of oocytes in cyst and follicle after 5 days intraperitoneally injected nicotine at incresing dosage. (E) Percentage of oocytes in cyst and follicle after 5 days intraperitoneally injected 1 mg /kg nicotine plus 0.25 μM, 0.5 μM and 1 μM melatonin respectively. (F) Number of primordial follicles in one section after 5 days intraperitoneally injected 1 mg /kg nicotine plus 1 μM melatonin and 5 mg /kg nicotine plus 1 μM melatonin respectively. The results are presented as mean±SD. All the experiments were repeated at least three times. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01.