Fig. 3
Follicle outcomes. A Follicle density (no. of follicles/mm3 ± SEM) in the general follicle population and at each stage (resting and growing) was evaluated by one-way ANOVA and Fisher’s LSD post hoc test. B Follicle atresia (% of atretic follicles/total follicles) was evaluated by the Kruskal–Wallis and Fisher’s post hoc tests. C HE staining of grafted tissues in the OT, N-MSCs + OT, and H-MSCs + OT groups on day 7, red arrows represent morphologically normal follicles (“healthy”), black arrows represent morphologically abnormal follicles (“atretic”). P value references: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. Statistical significance is expressed in subcolumns using different letters, a vs. b P < 0.05, c vs. d P < 0.05, Resting follicles density was significantly higher in the H-MSCs + OT group than OT group on day 3 and day 7. Scale bars: 50 μm. OT, ovarian tissue transplantation; N-MSCs + OT, normoxic-treated HucMSCs, and ovarian tissue co-transplantation. H-MSCs + OT, hypoxia-treated HucMSCs, and ovarian tissue co-transplantation. All graphs show mean ± SEM and n = 4 per group and per time point