Progesterone Administration after Ovarian Stimulation: Effects on Ovary Mast Cell Count and Histamine Level

Introduction: Induction of ovulation results in changes in ovary including the tissue immune cells. Administration of progesterone following induction of ovulation may ameliorate some of these changes. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of this administration of progesterone on mast cell count and tissue histamine level in mice ovary at pre-implantation time. Materials and Methods: An experimental study on 15 NMRI mice was carried out. The groups of study were control group, induction of ovulation group and a group for administration of progesterone after induction of ovulation. Mast cells count was through toluidine blue staining and tissue histamine level measure was through spectrophotometry. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis. Results: The mean of mast cell count was significantly different between the groups (P .001). Pairwise comparisons showed that induction group had significantly higher mast cells in comparison with control group (P =.039), indicating the effect of ovulation induction on mast cell count. The count was higher in progesterone group in comparison with induction group (P =.020). Mean of histamine level was significantly different between the groups (P .001). Induction group had significantly higher histamine level in comparison with control group (P .001). However, histamine level was not significantly different between induction and histamine groups (P =.998). Conclusion: Ovulation induction raises ovary mast cell population and histamine level. However, progesterone could not improve this change. Further studies should be conducted to find further roles of mast cells and histamine in ovary.