Abstract

SINCE IT is WELL known that the spontaneous activity of normal rats has a rhythm paralleling that of the cellular cycle of the vaginal epithelium, it becomes of interest to know whether these activity cycles persist in vitamin A deficient rats whose vaginal epithelium is constantly cornified. Evans (1) reported that vitamin A deficient female rats with constant cornification of the vaginal epithelium accepted the male at regular 5-day intervals, indicating a persistence of the sex rhythm. Moreover, 22 per cent of the copulations resulted in the birth of living young. More recently, Mason and Ellison (2) reported that estrous changes could be detected in the vaginal eipthc lium of the vitamin A deficient rat by supravital study of the cells. It was decided then to determine whether the activity cycles persist during the period of continuous cornification and, if so, whether they are altered in any way.

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