Modulation of water diffusion during gonadotropin-induced ovulation: NMR microscopy of the ovarian follicle

The preovulatory rat follicle reaches a diameter of 1 mm with no internal blood vessels. Nutrient supply to the enclosed oocyte depends solely on passive diffusion across the follicular wall and the follicular fluid. Spin-echo and stimulated-echo NMR microscopy experiments were applied here for studying modulations in water diffusion during gonadotropin-induced maturation of perfused rat ovarian follicles (32 degrees C). Two diffusion compartments were observed for the follicular wall. The intracellular water diffusion coefficient, measured at a short diffusion time (9 ms) was 0.28 x 10(-5) cm2/s. Diffusion at long diffusion times was restricted to 16 microns, the size of cells in the follicular wall, and did not change during maturation. In the follicular fluid a transient 26% decrease in the diffusion coefficient was observed 4-7 h after gonadotropin stimulation, a change that is bound to affect the metabolic balance of the oocyte before ovulation.