Ovarian venous blood flow in non-pregnant and pregnant rats

A modified venous outflow technique was used to measure ovarian blood flow in the rat. The rate of flow through the right ovary was 0-198+/-0-009 (S.E.M.), 0-476+/-0-076 and 0-958+/-0-162 ml/min in six Day 0 (dioestrous), five Day 16 and six Day 22 pregnant rats respectively. The intravenous administration of 50 i.u. human chorionic gonadotrophin increased ovarian blood flow by 26+/-4, 57+/-19 and 46+/-9% respectively, from 2 to 8 min after the injection. The present ovarian venous outflow results are substantially higher than those previously reported in the rat but agree with values determined with radioactive microspheres.