Effects of capsaicin treatment on the regulation of ovarian compensatory hypertrophy and compensatory ovulation.

The present study investigates the effects of functional sensorial denervation, induced by administering capsaicin to hemiovariectomized adult female rats in each day of the estrus cycle, on ovulation and serum concentrations of estrogen and progesterone. The results indicate that the establishment of compensatory ovarian hypertrophy (COH) and compensatory ovulation (CO) depends on both the day of the estrous cycle when sensorial denervation was performed and on which ovary was extirpated. These results support the now accepted notion that the response of the ovaries to denervation is asymmetrical. The results seem to suggest that this asymmetric response is mediated by some specific neu-ral information that is registered in the ovary and sent to the CNS, that such information plays a role modulating the reactivity of the ovarian compartments to gonadotropins, and that the frequency of this signal varies along the estrus cycle.