Correlation between the follicular gonadotropin inhibitor and the maturity of the ovum-corona-cumulus complex.

We assessed the correlation between the maturity of the ovum-corona-cumulus complex, the gonadotropin inhibitor in follicular fluids (FFs), and culture media derived from the granulosa cells of these follicles. FFs were obtained from patients (n = 20) stimulated with clomiphene citrate and human chorionic gonadotropin. The percentages of the inhibition of the ovarian weight augmentation (71.5% +/- 4.4%) and the number of ova (91.3% +/- 3.7%) in the mice given injections of FF from follicles containing mature ova and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMS) were markedly greater when compared with those given FF from follicles containing immature ova and PMS (weight, 33.7% +/- 6.4%; ova, 60.8% +/- 5.8%). The immature granulosa cell culture media of days 4 to 6 and the mature cell media of days 1 to 3 greatly inhibited ovarian responses to gonadotropin (percent inhibition, immature, weight, 27.2% +/- 6.7%, ova, 48.1% +/- 13.2%; mature, weight, 42.9% +/- 9.2%, ova, 37.4% +/- 7.3%). It appears that mature follicles contain more gonadotropin inhibitor than immature follicles, that mature granulosa cells secrete the inhibitor more during days 1 to 3 of the culture than during days 4 to 6, and that immature cells secrete more during days 4 to 6 than during days 1 to 3.