Fig. 5

Photomicrographs representing the histological structures of ovarian and uterine sections of rabbits in the follicular and luteal phases. (a & c): ovarian sections in the follicular phase displaying (a) ovarian epithelium (OE), primordial follicle (PF), and secondary follicle (SF). The secondary follicle (SF) contains fluid-filled cavities (C) in between granulosa cells (GC) and encircled by theca cells (TC), (c) multi-layered primary follicle presents as primary oocyte (PO) surrounded by zona pellucida (ZP), granulosa cells (GC), and theca cells (TC). (b & d): ovarian sections in the luteal phase exhibiting (b) ovarian epithelium (OE), primary oocyte (PO) inside primordial follicle (PF), (d) active corpus luteum with abundant small (SGL) and large granulosa lutein cells (LGL). (e & g) uterine sections in the follicular phase demonstrating (e) high folded endometrial epithelium (E), few connective tissues (CT), and endometrial glands (G), (g) myometrium comprising inner circular (IC), outer longitudinal (OL) bundles of smooth muscle, fibrous C.T. (F), and stratum vascular (SV) as well as perimetrium (P). (f & h) uterine sections in the luteal phase displaying (f) endometrial epithelium (E), proliferative connective tissue (CT), endometrial glands (G), (h) myometrium with inner circular (IC) and outer longitudinal (OL) smooth muscle. (H & E, Photos no. a, e, f, g: X100, Scale bar = 200 μm, Photos no. b, c, d, h: X400, Scale bar = 50 μm)