ArticleJournal of visualized experiments : JoVE2012
Performing vaginal lavage, crystal violet staining, and vaginal cytological evaluation for mouse estrous cycle staging identification.
Article in Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 379 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
379 citing papers in PubMed, 649 citations in OpenAlex.
- Remodeling of the hepatic circadian transcriptome across the estrous cycle.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Acute Submaximal Running Potentiates the Straub Tail Response to Meperidine in a Dose- and Sex-Dependent Manner in Mice.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2026Article
- Comparison of diestrus duration and temporal gene expression patterns in vaginal smear samples from pseudopregnant rats induced by sonic vibration or mating with vasectomized males.Laboratory animal research · 2026Article
- Effects of sexual dimorphism and estrous cycle on murineInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- LASP1, a Novel Protein in Spermatozoa and Acrosome Reaction.Molecular reproduction and development · 2026Article
- Double negative T cells decline in inflammatory reproductive dysfunction.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Early life Oxytocin treatment Attenuates Seizure Susceptibility in Male, but not Female,bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Ovarian localization drives IL-7R-dependent CD8 coreceptor expression in peripheral double-negative T cells.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Article
- Sex-dependent central amygdala physiology after supradural CGRP exposure is associated with migraine-like behaviors.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Aging disrupts spatiotemporal coordination in the cycling murine ovary.Nature aging · 2026Article
- Sex and ovarian hormone status shape baseline cardiovascular physiology in Sprague Dawley rats.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2026Article
- The G protein-coupled estrogen receptor in the nucleus accumbens mediates the estrogen-induced increase in cataplexy-like behavior.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Temporal cortex astrocytic Gi-GPCR signaling regulates learned threat responses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Sex and ovarian hormone cycles alter effects of stimulant drugs on mouse dopaminergic signaling.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Article
- CA Inhibitor 1 Treatment Does Not Affect Estrous Cyclicity in Mice.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2026Article
- Sub-Anesthetic Ketamine Administration Decreases Deviance Detection Responses at the Cellular, Population- and Mesoscale Levels.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Expression of purinergic receptor P2Y, G-protein coupled 2, is regulated by estrogen during the estrous cycle in mouse uterus.Purinergic signalling · 2026Article
- Social defeat stress responses in the stress alternative model are dependent on sex and anterior basolateral amygdala orexin 2 receptors.Biology of sex differences · 2026Article
- High-yield induced ovulation in the adult marsupial fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata).Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Single-cell map of the female brain across reproductive transitions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
319 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
A rapid means of assessing reproductive status in rodents is useful not only in the study of reproductive dysfunction but is also required for the production of new mouse models of disease and investigations into the hormonal regulation of tissue degeneration (or regeneration) following pathological challenge. The murine reproductive (or estrous) cycle is divided into 4 stages: proestrus, estrus, metestrus, and diestrus. Defined fluctuations in circulating levels of the ovarian steroids 17-β-estradiol and progesterone, the gonadotropins luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormones, and the luteotropic hormone prolactin signal transition through these reproductive stages. Changes in cell typology within the murine vaginal canal reflect these underlying endocrine events. Daily assessment of the relative ratio of nucleated epithelial cells, cornified squamous epithelial cells, and leukocytes present in vaginal smears can be used to identify murine estrous stages. The degree of invasiveness, however, employed in collecting these samples can alter reproductive status and elicit an inflammatory response that can confound cytological assessment of smears. Here, we describe a simple, non-invasive protocol that can be used to determine the stage of the estrous cycle of a female mouse without altering her reproductive cycle. We detail how to differentiate between the four stages of the estrous cycle by collection and analysis of predominant cell typology in vaginal smears and we show how these changes can be interpreted with respect to endocrine status.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.