THE EFFECTS OF POST-OPERATIVE ANALGESICS ON OVARIAN MEDULLARY ANGIOGENSIS AND VASCULOGENESIS by Shamus M. Brady A critical factor for successful ovarian transplantation is the expeditious establishment of sufficient blood supply. Recommendations intended to improve recovery, reduce the effects of stress, and decrease the amount of pain for laboratory animals undergoing surgical procedures include post-operative analgesia. The two main types of drugs that are recommended for pain management are opioids and non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Buprenorphine, an opioid, and meloxicam, an NSAID, are both widely used and have been shown to affect angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. This study was designed to examine the influence meloxicam and buprenorphine had on new blood vessel formation in the ovarian medullary region of aged female recipient CBA/J mice, transplanted with young ovaries from CBA/J donor females. Medullary vessel analysis was performed by viewing 40 µm thick sections fluorescently labelled with the cell marker CD31/PECAM-1 via confocal microscopy. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed between treatment groups to analyze how the independent variables of analgesic administration affected multiple dependent variables of deep microvessel quantities. Results demonstrated no significant endothelial microvessel growth or reduction among the meloxicam or buprenorphine-treated mice as compared to saline-treated mice. Results further suggested that neither type of analgesic drugs affected medullary ovarian angiogenesis and vasculogenesis after ovarian transplantation of young ovaries into aged females. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my infinite gratitude to my graduate advisor, Dr. Shelley Cargill. Her guidance and passion for the discipline of physiology has both inspired me and made this thesis possible. I would also like to acknowledge Andrea Brady. This journey would not have possible without her unwavering support. Additionally, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Michael Sneary, Dr. Luis Bonachea, and Dr. Rachael French for their assistance on my thesis. Their guidance deepened my knowledge and appreciation for physiology, statistical analysis, and confocal microscopy. Dr. Michael Sneary aided my setting up the microtome and tissue sectioning, Dr. Luis Bonachea supported my processing and statistically analyzing my data, and Dr. Rachael French gave me extensive instruction of proper confocal microscopy technique. Lastly, I would like to thank Christine Petrovec who assisted me on dehydration and sectioning of the ovarian tissue.
