Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder affecting 4-12% of reproductive women worldwide; characterized by chronic anovulation, clinical and/or biochemical hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries on ultrasound scan. Ovarian androgen overproduction is the key pathophysiologic feature of PCOS. A number of genes encoding major enzymes of the androgen meta...

BACKGROUND There is a likely genetic component to transsexualism, and genes involved in sex steroidogenesis are good candidates. We explored the specific hypothesis that male-to-female transsexualism is associated with gene variants responsible for undermasculinization and/or feminization. Specifically, we assessed the role of disease-associated repeat length polymorphisms in the androgen recep...

The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of polymorphisms in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and androgen-related genes (AR, CYP17, and CYP19) on prostate cancer (PCa) risk in selected high-risk patients who underwent prostate biopsy. Blood samples and prostate tissues were obtained for DNA analysis. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the 50-untranslated regions (UTRs) of the PSA ...

Introduction Genetic polymorphisms in CYP19 have been hypothesized to alter aromatase activity and have been examined in relationship with breast cancer risk (1–4). A greater frequency of tetranucleotide (TTTA)n repeat alleles in intron 4 have been reported among affected women (1,2). In a Scandinavian case-control study (cases/controls, 481/236) Kristensen et al. (4) observed a positive associ...

Nineteen cycling ewes underwent transrectal ultrasonography of ovaries followed by ovariectomies during the growth phase of the first follicular wave of the interovulatory interval or the proestrus/estrus phase of the cycle. Quantitative ultrasonographic characteristics of the antrum and follicular wall in a total of forty-three ovine antral follicles were examined for correlations with the pro...

1-Phenylsulfinyl-3-(pyridin-3-yl)naphthalen-2-ols and related compounds were synthesized and evaluated for inhibition of aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2), a potential target for cardiovascular diseases associated with elevated plasma aldosterone levels like congestive heart failure and myocardial fibrosis. Introduction of substituents at the phenylsulfinyl moiety and changes of the substitution p...

The human placenta has a remarkable capacity to aromatize C19-steroids, produced by the fetal adrenals, to estrogens. This reaction is catalyzed by aromatase P450 (P450arom), encoded by the CYP19 gene. In placenta, CYP19 gene expression is restricted to the syncytiotrophoblast layer. Cytotrophoblasts isolated from human placenta, when placed in monolayer culture in 20% O2, spontaneously fuse to...