Endocrine Abstracts

The ovarian enzyme 20alpha-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase (20HSD) plays a central role in the termination of pregnancy in rodents. The enzyme which is expressed mainly in the corpus luteum, catalyzes the reduction of progesterone to 20alpha hydropregn-4en-3-one which is biologically inactive and cannot maintain pregnancy. During pregnancy ovarian 20HSD expression is inhibited, activity peaked in the CL of pregnancy about 24 hrs before parturition at the same time that progester...

Clinical insulin resistance, concomitant with higher circulating insulin, is implicated in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in which there is abnormal lipid metabolism with changes in ovarian hormone production. SREBPs are key transcriptional regulators of lipid biosynthesis and therefore may be involved in changes occurring in PCOS. We have examined whether insulin and gonadotrophin regulate SREBPs.Local ethical approval was granted ...

Little is known about the factors affecting preantral follicle growth but we have recently shown that IGF-I stimulates growth of follicles in human cortical tissue in culture (Stubbs et al, Endocrine Abstracts 2003, 6, OC7). The aim of this study was to extend the study of the effects of IGF-I on follicle recruitment and test the specificity of action by examining the ability of the type 1 IGF receptor antibody, alpha-IR3, to inhibit IGF action. Small ovarian cortical biopsies...

Secretion of LH and FSH from the anterior pituitary are regulated by hypothalamic GnRH and TGF beta-superfamily members, inhibin and activin. The aim of this study was to identify expression of key receptors in the pituitary gland and monitor their expression throughout the 24-25h ovulatory cycle.Hens maintained on long days (16L:8D) were killed by cervical dislocation 4h, 12h, 18h and 22h after predicted ovulation of a midsequence egg (n=8 per group). P...

Aims: To discover if the addition of DHEAS (dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate) and androstenedione aids diagnosis in GP patients with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) as part of their differential diagnosis.Methods: Over two months our laboratory received seventy-nine female General Practice patients whose symptoms / signs led to a differential diagnosis including PCOS. Of these, nine had a raised total testosterone and twenty-seven had a raised free andro...

BackgroundPCOS is the commonest endocrinopathy in women. PCO are typified by increased ovarian follicles. The aetiology is unknown, but may be due either to enhanced follicular growth, reduced atresia, or both. Hyperandrogenism is almost universal either clinically or biochemically and in primates and sheep androgen excess in-utero produces ovaries phenotypically identical to those in PCOS. There have been no analyses of the effects of androgens on early...

11BHSD1 is a NADP-dependant, bi-directional enzyme which inter-converts the glucocorticoid cortisol with its inactive metabolite cortisone. Follicular fluid (FF) from large antral ovarian follicles contains hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds which stimulate and inhibit 11BHSD1 enzyme activities, respectively. The objective of this study was to assess whether levels of these enzyme modulators change in FF during development of porcine follicles. Pooled samples of FF, aspirat...

Objective: We previously reported that the reduced arterial elasticity in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women is present in the first trimester of pregnancy. Women with reduced arterial elasticity are more likely to develop pre eclampsia, which association with PCOS is still unproven. This study was designed to compare blood pressure (BP) and arterial elasticity in pregnant PCOS women and controls in second trimester.Methods: The subjects were 15 preg...