BACKGROUND We sought to identify indicators of antral follicle count which would be serviceable to clinicians seeking to estimate the number of ovarian follicles without relying on sonographic counts. METHODS We examined the relations of chronological age and four potential indicators of ovarian age-ovarian volume, FSH, dimeric inhibin B and estradiol-to antral follicle count in 176 recently ...

Fas ligand (FasL) and its receptor Fas have been implicated in granulosa cell apoptosis during follicular atresia. Although interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is believed to be involved in the regulation Fas expression in differentiated granulosa or granulosa-luteal cells, the expression of this cytokine and its role in the regulation of the granulosa cell Fas/FasL system and apoptosis during follicular ...

Progression of preantral follicle development is essential to further follicle maturation and ovulation, but there are few models for studying the regulation of preantral follicle survival and growth. We have evaluated preantral follicle survival in vivo and in vitro, and have developed a serum-free rat follicle culture system that can be used to characterize the regulation of preantral follicl...

Background: Nicotine exposure causes impaired fertility , ovarian and uterus dysfunction. The pineal hormone melatonin is known as an antioxidant agent. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective role of exogen melatonin on altered ovary and endometrium with nicotine. Materials and Methods: Female adult NMRI mice were divided into four groups. The control group received ve...

The inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) constitute a family of highly conserved apoptosis suppressor proteins that was originally identified in baculoviruses. Although IAP homologs have been recently identified and demonstrated to suppress apoptosis in mammalian cells, their expression and role during follicular development and atresia are unknown. The present study was conducted to address ...

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily, which plays an important role in both ovarian primordial follicle recruitment and dominant follicle selection in mice. However, the role of AMH in folliculogenesis in humans has not been investigated in detail. In the present study, AMH expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry in ovarian secti...

Preantral follicles are of great abundance in mammalian ovaries and the vast majority (>99.9%) never become ovulatory; therefore, the ability to rescue these otherwise wasted follicles seems very appealing. Considering there are striking similarities in antral follicle dynamics between mares and women, the mare might become a good model to study early (preantral and antral) folliculogenesis in ...

Many patients with hyperandrogenemia are overweight or obese, which exacerbates morbidities associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). To examine the ability of testosterone (T) to generate PCOS-like symptoms, monkeys received T or cholesterol (control) implants (n = 6/group) beginning prepubertally. As previously reported, T-treated animals had increased neuroendocrine drive to the repr...

The predominant pattern of follicle development in pigs is characterized by continuous activation, slow growth to the antral stage, and rapid growth to 4 to 5 mm followed by atresia. The only time that this pattern is broken is when a small portion of the follicle population is selected for ovulation. The mechanisms that regulate the selection of ovulatory follicles are not well understood. How...

the aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of reproductive hormones in blood plasma and in follicular fluids of different sized follicles during various stages of the estrous cycle in holstein cattle. jugular blood samples from 42 adult holstein cattle were collected immediately after the slaughter. antral fluids from small (4-5 mm), medium (6-9 mm) and large (10-20 mm) follicles ...