Figure 2

Characteristics of the main ovarian structures in cycling sheep at a high altitude. The maximum preovulatory follicular diameter (panel A), corpus luteum area dynamics (panel B) and corpus luteum vascular area (panel C) were determined in cycling sheep at a high altitude either unsupplemented (HH: high-altitude natives; LH: low-altitude natives) or supplemented daily (HHV: high-altitude natives; LHV: low-altitude natives) with vitamins C and E. Groups LL and LLV correspond to the control cycling sheep at a low altitude without and with vitamin supplementation, respectively. Sub-panels C-1 and C-2 show representative images of groups where minor and major cross-sectional CL vascular areas were obtained, respectively (arrows show blood vessels; magnification 400x). In panel B, the letters above the symbols indicate significant differences among groups at the same time interval (P<0.05) as follows: a, groups LLV and LH are higher than all of the other groups; b, group LL is higher than all of the other groups; c, groups LL and LLV are higher than all of the other groups. In panel C, the different letters above the columns indicate significant differences among groups (P<0.05, Duncan`s test).