Two preparations for the study of the isolated rabbit oviduct

When rabbit oviducts were slit open along their length, cut into small pieces, and incubated in Krebs--Ringer--bicarbonate medium, the tissue slices took up O2 at a steady rate for 40 min, retained approximately 70% of their adenine nucleotides, and were suitable for metabolic studies of the oviduct. In a second preparation, oxygenated Krebs--Ringer--bicarbonate medium was recirculated at 700 microliters/min through the lumen of the whole oviduct, severed of its blood supply, while the serosal surface was bathed in a similar medium. The preparation took up O2, maintained a steady potential difference across its mucosal and serosal surfaces, and transported 2-deoxy D-glucose selectively for at least 40 min. In oviducts taken from rabbits injected 3 days previously with hCG, there was greater than 4-fold increase in the initial transmural potential difference.