Endocrine Abstracts

It is well established that the interaction between an implanting embryo and the endometrium is essential for successful implantation and there is a variety of locally secreted factors within the uterine environment which underlies this maternal–fetal cross-talk. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone secreted by the embryo and is essential during early stages of pregnancy to maintain progesterone production from the corpus luteum. Its receptor (LH/...

Aim: PCOS is associated with peripheral insulin resistance and we have previously shown that glucose uptake and metabolism are impaired in granulosa lutein (GL) cells of anovulatory women with PCOS (anovPCO). The aim of this study was to delineate insulin-signalling pathways in GL cells from women with anovPCO and to compare the response to insulin with that in GL cells from ovulatory women with (ovPCO) and without polycystic ovaries (controls).Methods: ...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder, affecting 5–10% of women of reproductive age. The underlying pathogenesis is complex and incompletely understood. There is evidence that gonadotropin and gonadotropin receptor action play a role in the pathogenesis of PCOS with genome wide association studies in PCOS also implicating altered gonadotropin action in the aetiology of PCOS. Furthermore, our recent studies have demonstrated that gonad...

Bile acids and steroid hormones are potent regulators of metabolic phenotype. 5β-reductase (AKR1D1) is highly expressed in the liver where it catalyses a fundamental step in bile acid synthesis and inactivates steroid hormones. We have previously shown that male, but not female, AKR1D1 knockout (KO) mice on a normal chow diet are leaner than wildtype littermates but are not protected against diet induced obesity. Here we investigate the impact of a high fat diet on female...

Background: Excess glucocorticoid (GC) exposure is associated with an adverse body composition and metabolic profile characterised by increasing fat mass, muscle atrophy, insulin resistance, fatty liver, and dyslipidaemia culminating in increased cardiovascular risk. GCs are widely prescribed with increasing age where their effects can have deleterious effects.Objectives: To investigate the impact of GC exposure on subcutaneous adipose lipid metabolism a...

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder, affecting 5–10% of women of reproductive age, and is the major cause of anovulatory infertility. Aberrant secretion and/or action of gonadotropins are implicated but, to date, we have only limited knowledge about the precise mechanisms involved. Recent genome wide association studies have discovered signals at loci close to the genes coding for gonadotropin receptors. The functional significanc...

Background: Infertility is a common problem and the number of couples receiving assisted reproductive treatment (ART) is increasing. Using GnRH agonists (GnRHa) to trigger oocyte maturation has been shown to reduce risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a common complication of IVF, compared to the more traditional use of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Kisspeptin has recently been shown to be a safe trigger of oocyte maturation in women at high risk of OHSS. Ki...

Background: In vitro fertilisation is an effective therapy for infertility, but can result in the potentially life-threatening complication, Ovarian Hyper-Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS). We have previously reported that a single injection of kisspeptin results in an LH surge of ~12–14 hrs duration, sufficient to safely induce oocyte maturation, but eliminate OHSS. However, the physiological LH surge in a normal menstrual cycle has a plateaux lasting 24–28 hrs. ...