Attempted fertilization of hamster eggs following transplantation into the uterus
✍ Scribed by Hunter, R. H. F.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1968
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 457 KB
- Volume
- 168
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-104X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The possibility of obtaining fertilization of mammalian eggs at sites in the reproductive tract other than the ampulla of the Fallopian tube appears to have received little attention. Following transplantation of recently-ovulated hamster eggs from the tubes of 66 donors into the uterine horns of a similar number of mated or inseminated recipients at known stages of the estrous cycle, none of 392 recovered eggs was found to be fertilized after periods of between two and eight hours in the uterus. All eggs were completely denuded of cells of the cumulus oophorus and corona radiata at recovery, but spermatozoa were not found attached to or within the zona pellucida. Large globules, presumably derived from deutoplasmic components of the vitellus, were observed in the perivitelline space of transferred eggs recovered from the uterus on the morning after ovulation; the vitelline membrane appeared to be damaged in a proportion of these eggs. However, apart from such adverse effects of the uterine fluids upon the egg membranes, it should also be considered that hamster spermatozoa may require exposure to the environment of the Fallopian tu.be before they acquire the ability to penetrate the eggs.