Maternal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons diminishes murine ovarian reserve via induction of Harakiri
J. Clin. Invest. Andrea Jurisicova, et al. 117:3971 doi:10.1172/JCI28493 [Go to this article.]

Figure 1
Effect of maternal treatment with PAHs on the ovarian follicle endowment in female offspring. (A) Morphological appearance of ovaries from 3-week-old female daughters of mothers exposed to vehicle only (CC), PAH exposure (cumulative dose of 6 mg/kg) before pregnancy (PC), PAH exposure (cumulative dose of 6 mg/kg) during lactation (CP), and PAH exposure (cumulative dose of 12 mg/kg) both before pregnancy and during lactation exposure (PP). (B) Quantitative representation of the morphometric analysis of the ovarian pool for nonapoptotic oocyte-containing primordial (resting) and primary (growing) follicles in different treatment groups is expressed as mean ± SEM. Each treatment group shown represents combined data obtained from at least 2 female offspring per litter from each treated mother: CC, n = 11; PC, n = 18; CP, n = 11; PP, n = 15. Effectiveness of AHR antagonist was assessed in mothers from the PP group supplemented with resveratrol (PPR), or mothers from the CC group (vehicle) supplemented with resveratrol (R) (cumulative dose of 120 mg/kg). Two to three females per litter from each mother were subjected to morphometric analysis (R, n = 6; PPR, n = 9). *P < 0.05 relative to control; **P < 0.05 relative to all treatment groups.