Transplantation of the fetal olfactory placode restores reproductive cycles in female rhesus monkeys (Mucaca mulatta) bearing lesions in the medial basal hypothalamus

The purpose of this study was to determine whether loss of the reproductive cycle after lesions of the medial basal hypothalamus can be reversed by transplantation of the embryonic olfactory placode (OP) into female rhesus monkeys. Seven adult female rhesus monkeys with regular menstrual cycles received bilateral radiofrequency lesions in the arcuate nucleus and the median eminence. After confirmation of anovulation in these monkeys, four monkeys were stereotaxically implanted with the OP obtained from monkey fetuses on embryonic days 35-36. The remaining three monkeys were similarly implanted with embryonic cerebellum (CB) as a control. Fetuses were delivered by cesarean section, and the OP and CB were immediately dissected out using a stereomicroscope. Fetal tissue was then cut into small pieces (< 1 mm3), mixed with artificial cerebrospinal fluid containing small pieces of Gelfoam, and stereotaxically injected into the infundibular recess of the third ventricle. The recovery of ovulatory cycles in recipient monkeys was observed for at least 6 months; sex skin color changes and menstrual records were obtained daily, and serum samples for LH, estrogen, and progesterone were obtained twice a week. Three of four OP-transplanted monkeys resumed their ovulatory cycles within 2 months, whereas the fourth monkey, an elderly female, failed to recover her cycle. In contrast, none of the three CB-transplanted monkeys resumed ovulatory cycles. Histological examination indicated that 1) lesion scars were present in the median eminence-stalk region as well as the medial basal portion of the arcuate nucleus of all seven brains; and 2) cartilage was present in the third ventricles of the OP-implanted brains. Moreover, immunocytochemical staining revealed that in all OP monkeys, small, round, and immature LHRH-positive cells with fine short processes were found in the third ventricle and/or median eminence-stalk region, whereas no similar LHRH cells were found in CB-transplanted monkeys. It is concluded, therefore, that implantation of LHRH neurons derived from the fetal OP can result in resumption of the ovulatory cycle in female monkeys whose own LHRH pulse-generating mechanisms were impaired. Moreover, the results suggest that LHRH neurons derived from embryonic OP possess the physiological functions necessary for the stimulation of gonadotropin secretion.