Onset of puberty and normal histological appearances of the reproductive organs in peripubertal female Göttingen minipigs.

In preclinical studies, it is important to know whether the animals used are sexually mature or not. Precise data have not yet been published, however, about the histological features of the female reproductive organs during the peripubertal period or about the age of acquisition of sexual maturity in the minipig. The histological characteristics of the genital organs of female control minipigs from toxicology studies were described and, based on the presence of ovarian corpora lutea, used to assess the age at which maturity was reached. Only 50% of females can be considered mature at about 6.5 months old (a body weight of 11.8 kg), and 100% were not mature until about 7.5 months old (13.1 kg), although it is said that females reach sexual maturity at the age of approximately 5 months, by the time the body weight is about 10 to 12 kg. The uterine weights of mature females were higher than 94.4 g, whereas the maximum weight reached in the immature females was 55.2 g. In contrast, the differences between immature and mature ovarian weights were not significant. The histological appearance of the mature vagina in the various stages of the estrous cycle is also described.