The Protective Effect of N-Acetylcysteine on Ionizing Radiation Induced Ovarian Failure and Loss of Ovarian Reserve in Female Mouse

Figure 2

Representative HE stained ovarian tissue sections and morphometric analysis of ovarian follicle populations. (A) Representative photomicrographs of hematoxylin and eosin-stained ovarian tissue sections. Histological sections of control (a) and NAC treated group (c) represent similar organization, with number of follicles in different stages. In contrast, drastic decrease of follicle number was shown in the X-irradiation group. Sections taken from the mice pretreated with NAC before X-irradiation showed near-normal organization, with number of growing follicles. Scale bar, 200 μm. (B) Numbers of (a) primordial, (b) preantral, (c) antral, and (d) atretic ovarian follicles. Each bar represents mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments ( and   versus control; and   versus X-irradiation group).