Serous cysts are a benign component of the cyclic ovary in the guinea pig with an incidence dependent upon inhibin bioactivity

Abstract

Ovaries were collected from normal cycling female guinea pigs on each day of the estrous cycle (n=5 per day) for histological analysis of ovarian morphology. Three types of ovarian cysts were observed: serous cysts, follicular cysts and parovarian cysts. The most common were serous cysts (cystic rete ovarii), which were present throughout the estrous cycle with an overall incidence of 63.5% (54 out of 85 animals). Follicular cysts occurred in 22.4% of guinea pigs overall (19 out of 85). Only one parovarian cyst (1 out of 85) was observed in the present experiment. Follicular cysts always coincided with serous cysts and were less common during diestrus. The incidence of serous cysts did not v..