Morphometric and ultrastructural analysis of human granulosa cells after gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist or antagonist

Abstract

Morphological features of granulosa cells can reflect their functional status. The present study was aimed at comparing possible differences in the fine structure of human granulosa cells exposed to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist or antagonist treatment during ovarian stimulation. Cells were obtained from follicular aspirates of 21 women treated with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (rFSH) plus either a GnRH agonist or a GnRH antagonist. Conventional light microscopy procedures and computerized image analysis systems were used to identify different cell type morphological patterns and to quantify different cells distribution. Two morphologically distinct granulosa cell populations, defined as large/pale and small/dark cells, were identified and a different distribution in the two groups of women under investigation was found: a significantly higher percentage in large/pale cells was detected in the agonist-treated women (P<0.05), whereas the percentage of small/dark cells was significantly higher in the antagonist-treated group (P<0.05). Ultrastructural observations showed the presence in both cell populations of typical hallmarks of steroidogenic cells, highlighting signs of functional activity in the large/pale cell population. Further investigations are needed to define the possible clinical significance of these morphological findings.

Malathion-Induced Granulosa Cell Apoptosis in Caprine Antral Follicles: An Ultrastructural and Flow Cytometric Analysis

“…The presence of lipid inclusions indicated a metabolically inactive state and such cells are destined to undergo apoptosis as they are considered as stores of unreleased steroids preventing lipolysis (Hyttel et al, 1986), which is in support with our observations. Apparently, fragmented and degenerated lipid bodies were presumably due to numerous lysosomes (Centurione et al, 2010). The existence of damaged mitochondria was an essential attribute of apoptosis in granulosa cells.…”

Isolation of granulosa cells from follicular fluid; applications in biomedical and molecular biology experiments

“…RLB solution contained 2 M Tris-HCL (Tehran-Iran) with pH 7.6 and 1 M MgCl 2 (Germany) and 3 M NaCl (Darmstadt-Germany). [ 13 ] The diluted solution was kept at room temperature for 2-5 min and occasionally the tube was agitated gently and centrifuged at 300 g for 3 min at 21°C. Then, the pellet in each tube was washed with PBS and used for counting, viability testing and RNA-DNA extraction.…”

High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy of Cells Using Dielectrophoresis

“…Indeed, in clinical medicine it has been valuable in the differential diagnosis of tumors [13]–[15]. Pharmacological endeavors of drug discovery and investigating drug effects have also utilized ultrastructural cell analysis [16]–[18]. Furthermore, in fundamental biology, characterization of important biological structures such as presynaptic terminals, and examination of embryonic cell lineage differentiation has also been enabled [19], [20].…”