Endocrine Abstracts

A 29 year old male and his wife presented with an 18 month history of primary infertility. History and initial investigations suggested no major female component but a semen analysis revealed azoospermia. There was no history of any sexual dysfunction and neither partner was receiving any medication. Clinical examination revealed normal secondary sexual characteristics. Both testicles were of normal consistency with a volume of approximately 15mls but a 4x2cm mass was palpable...

Background/aims: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women, being characterized by ovarian hyperandrogenism attributed to intrinsic overproduction by theca cells (TCs). Although previous reports pointed a higher stability and transcription of CYP17mRNA (Wickenheisser JK et al. 2006)1, few have examined (and none has quantified) P450c17 protein expression in TCs from PCOS ovaries. Therefore, the aim of this study is to qua...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterised by hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance. It is thought that androgen excess contributes to the mechanism of insulin resistance. Granulosa cells in PCOS demonstrate impaired insulin-induced glucose uptake and lactate accumulation1. The aim of this study was to characterise insulin signalling (via the PI3-Kinase (PI3-K) pathway) and glucose metabolism in an immortalised mouse granulosa cell line (KK1)2, a...

Insulin resistance is common in women with PCOS. Insulin and IGF-1 affect glucose uptake and metabolism via insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) and the phosphotidyl inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Impaired glucose metabolism has been observed in granulosa-lutein cells from anovulatory (but not ovulatory) women with PCO (Rice et al. 2005). The aim of this study was to analyse IRS-1 protein expression in human preantral follicles in samples of normal and PCO. Immunohisto...

Preantral follicle development in polycystic ovaries (PCO) is characterised by an increased proportion of early growing follicles. We have previously shown that IGF-1 stimulates initiation of follicle growth in normal and PCO (Endocrine Abstracts 2004 7 P172). Here we have extended these studies, specifically to examine whether the ovulatory status of the patients from whom tissue is obtained influences the response to IGF-1. Small ovarian biopsies were obtained (with ethical ...

The recent recommendations from the joint ESHRE/ASRM expert panel regarding the definition of PCOS (the so-called Rotterdam Criteria) have given rise to considerable controversy, particularly over the inclusion of anovulatory women with polycystic ovaries (PCO) but without evidence of androgen excess. We reviewed the results of a large series of anovulatory women with PCO who have been treated with low-dose FSH at our centre with the aim of investigating the impact of serum te...

Ligand-activated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), a nuclear hormone receptor, dimerises with retinoid X receptor(RXR) and acts as a transcription factor translating nutritional, pharmacological and metabolic stimuli into changes in gene expression. PPARgamma is thought to serve several roles in adipocyte differentiation, fatty acid and lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity and ovarian steroidogenesis. PPARgamma has also been shown to increase gluco...

In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes obtained from medium sized antral follicles could avoid the need for superovulation for in vitro fertilisation. FSH is routinely added to culture media during IVM but the effects on oocyte health are unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of FSH on 1) the metabolic activity of individual mouse cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) matured in vitro,and 2) the genesis of chromosomal abnormalities. 274 mouse COC...

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the commonest endocrine disorder in women and polycystic ovaries are characterized by excess ovarian stroma that has implications for disordered follicle development in PCOS. The factors contributing to proliferation and increased density of stroma remain unclear but local overproduction of androgens may be involved.Aim: To examine differential expression of genes that regulate key proteins that comprise ...

Case history: A 58 year old woman presented to her GP when her family members noted prominence of her left eye. She had a background history of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Her main symptom of PCOS was hirsutism. She had been treated initially with the combined oral contraceptive pill ‘Dianette’ (ethinyloestradiol/cyproterone) but had also been treated intermittently with varying doses of 25–100 mg cyproterone acetate (CPA) 10 days/cycle. Post menopause she...