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Evidence indicates that the ovarian regulatory mechanism of different strains of rat may respond differently to adrenalectomy; this study examined that possibility.

Adult female Sprague–Dawley and Holtzman rats were maintained under constant environmental conditions and each strain was divided into groups: intact; adrenalectomized; unilaterally ovariectomized; adrenalectomized and unilaterally ovariectomized for 30 days; adrenalectomized 30 days previously and then unilaterally ovariectomized followed by one oestrous cycle; adrenalectomized 30 days previously and then unilaterally ovariectomized followed by one oestrous cycle with progesterone treatment (2 mg); adrenalectomized 30 days previously and then unilaterally ovariectomized followed by one oestrous cycle with corticosterone treatment (2·5 mg/100 g). All operations and autopsies were performed at metoestrus. Chronically adrenalectomized rats shed fewer ova per ovary than intact animals. Rats that had been unilaterally ovariectomized or adrenalectomized and unilaterally ovariectomized for 30 days showed compensatory ovulation as compared with intact rats and rats adrenalectomized for 30 days. Only the Sprague–Dawley rats that were adrenalectomized for 30 days and unilaterally ovariectomized for one oestrous cycle demonstrated compensatory ovulation. The remaining ovary in similarly treated Holtzman rats failed to compensate. Neither progesterone nor corticosterone influenced compensatory ovulation in the Sprague–Dawley rats, but both hormones caused an increase in the number of eggs ovulated in the Holtzman animals. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that there is a strain-specific responsiveness of the ovary to adrenalectomy as assessed by compensatory ovulation.