AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

A critical factor for successful ovarian transplantation is the expeditious establishment of sufficient blood supply. Recommendations intended to improve recovery, reduce the effects of stress, and decrease the amount of pain for laboratory animals undergoing surgical procedures include post-operative analgesia. The two main types of drugs that are recommended for pain management are opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Buprenorphine, an opioid, and meloxicam, an NSAID, are both widely used and have been shown to affect angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. This study was designed to examine the influence meloxicam and buprenorphine had on new blood vessel formation in the ovarian medullary region of aged female recipient CBA/J mice, transplanted with young ovaries from CBA/J donor females. Medullary vessel analysis was performed by viewing 40 µm thick sections fluorescently labelled with the cell marker CD31/PECAM-1 via confocal microscopy. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed between treatment groups to analyze how the independent variables of analgesic administration affected multiple dependent variables of deep microvessel quantities. Results demonstrated no significant endothelial microvessel growth or reduction among the meloxicam or buprenorphine-treated mice as compared to saline-treated mice. Results further suggested that neither type of analgesic drugs affected medullary ovarian angiogenesis and vasculogenesis after ovarian transplantation of young ovaries into aged females.