Morphological changes in the ovary of newly hatched chickens treated with chorionic gonadotropin during embryonic development.

The present study describes morphological changes produced in the ovary of newly hatched chickens by treatment with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Morphometric measurements of the volume of steroidogenic cells and structures of the ovarian medulla were performed in controls and experimental chickens treated with hCG (1.0 IU/embryo) at 13, 15, and 17 days of embryonic development. After hCG treatment, the volume of interstitial cell cords increased, and modifications in poorly differentiated cells neighbouring the interstitial cells were also observed. Other changes obtained after hCG treatment were an increment in the development of the lacunar system and blood capillaries, as well as a reduction in the number of germ cells in the stroma of the ovarian medulla.