S. Sangchai PreutthipanS. H. ChenJ. L. TillyK. KuguR. R. LareuA. M. DharmarajanThe Johns Hopkins School of MedicineMahidol UniversitySaint Barnabas Medical CenterMassachusetts General HospitalGraduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, The University of TokyoUniversity of Western Australia2018-07-242018-07-242004-01-01Reproductive BioMedicine Online. Vol.9, No.3 (2004), 264-270147264832-s2.0-4544269261https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/21250To determine if nitric oxide (NO) plays a role in corpus luteum (CL) physiology by affecting progesterone secretion or luteal apoptosis, an in-vitro pseudopregnant rabbit ovarian perfusion system was used to measure the effects of an inhibitor of NO synthesis, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), on progesterone secretion and corpus luteal apoptosis as measured by internucleosomal DNA breakdown. Pseudopregnant rabbit ovaries perfused in vitro with L-NAME did not demonstrate any significant differences compared with control ovaries in progesterone secretion. However, apoptosis, as measured by internucleosomal breakdown, was significantly increased in L-NAME-perfused CL compared with controls. While NO does not appear to directly affect progesterone secretion, there does appear to be a role for NO in CL maintenance, or a role for inhibition of NO production in CL regression.Mahidol UniversityBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyMedicineArticleSCOPUS10.1016/S1472-6483(10)62140-2