The present study was carried out to determine whether the major steroidogenic organelles of luteal cells quantitatively reflect variations in ovarian steroid secretion rates during pregnancy in the rat. Assessments were made on day 16 and in the morning (AM) and afternoon (PM) of day 22 (term is day 23). Ovarian steroidogenesis differs both quantitatively and qualitatively between these stages of pregnancy, so together they provide an ideal physiological model to study structural-functional relationships in the ovary. Corpora lutea of five rats were examined at each stage after progesterone and 20 alpha-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one (20 alpha-OHP) secretion rates had been determined by a venous outflow technique. Total progestin secretion (progesterone plus 20 alpha-OHP) fell from 32.5 +/- 5.2 to 9.8 +/- 1.2 micrograms/hr per ovary (mean +/- SEM) between day 16 and day 22 AM but then increased to 22.6 +/- 1.4 micrograms/hr per ovary by day 22 PM. The total volume of luteal cell cytoplasm was slightly greater at day 22 AM and PM than at day 16. Similarly, the volumes of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), lipid droplets, and membrane-bound granules all increased, but the volume of mitochondria decreased slightly. In contrast, the surface areas of SER and the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes did not change between day 16 and day 22 AM but then increased substantially by day 22 PM. Therefore, steroid secretion rates per unit area of steroidogenic membrane showed no consistent pattern over the stages examined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)