Eggs of female hamsters are significantly less likely to be transported by the oviduct when the eggs or the oviduct have been exposed to cigarette smoke, and this could result in disruption of fertilization and pregnancy, according to reproductive scientists at the University of California, Riverside. In a paper to be published in Biology of Reproduction, Christine Gieseke and Prue Talbot report that various types of cigarette smoke cause freshly ovulated hamster eggs, enveloped in a layer of cumulus cells, to stick to the upper part (infundibulum) of the oviduct so that cilia are unable to transport them to the point where fertilization occurs.
