EN
Einer-Jensen, N., McCracken, J. A., Schram, W. and Bendz, A.: Counter current transfer in the female adnex. Adta physiol, pol., 1989, 40 (1): 3-11. The utero-ovarian veins and lymph vessels are intimately connected with the ovarian artery in the human female and in domestic animals, with the exception of the horse and the human female. A direct, local exchange of molecules from veins and lywtph vessels to arteries (counter current transfer) has been documented for this anatomic structore. Countercurrent transfer of certain inert gasses (¹³⁸ хеnоn, ⁸⁵ krypton), of prostaglandins (PGF₂ ₐᾳ ), of steroid hormones (e.g. progesterone, estradiol, testosterone), and of small peptide hormones (oxytocin, relaxin) has been shown to occur in laboratory and domestic animals a.s well as in the human female. The transfer of the inert gasses takes place within seconds. The transfer of steroid hormones and peptides is detectable within minutes while the transfer of PGF₂ ᾳ is delayed for 20 minutes. Red blood cells or albumin are not transferred. The existence of the local transfer is postulated to be of importance for: 1)the pregnancy/non-pregnancy signal from the uterus and tube to the ovary. The signal may be a combination of a liuteotrophic signal from the embryo and lack of a "non-pregnant'' luteolyitic signal from the endometrium, the latter probably being PGF₂ ᾳ in some species; 2)the unilateral influence of the ovarian hormones on the function of the ovarian, tubal, and possibly uterine tissues. An active corpus luteum may create in a mono-ovulatory animal a higher progesterone level in arterial blood supplying the ipsilateral tube and ovarian interstitial tissue than on equivalent contralateral organs.