Fig. 3

The mucous acinar cells of four groups. a SHAM group; b OVX group; c OVX + E2 group; d OVX + iCR group. In picture a, the cell nucleus, mitochondria and rough endoplasmic reticulum were arranged in an orderly manner at the basal side of the cell, while secretory granules were located on the luminal side. Nuclear condensation, mitochondrial damage, disordered arrangement of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and decreased numbers of secretory granules was existed in b. Almost all the above phenomena were improved appreciably in c, d. But the mitochondrial damage was still seen in c, but not in d. Asterisk indicates the secretory granules. White arrows indicate mitochondria. White arrow heads indicate the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Bars 2 μm