Achieving ovulation in women with Kallmann's syndrome requires both exogenous FSH and LH to successfully stimulate follicular maturation and ovarian steroidogenesis. We present a case of a woman with Kallmann's syndrome, who had poor ovarian response to stimulation by exogenous gonadotrophins. When she was given testosterone by patch before initiation of gonadotrophins, her stimulation dramatic...

BACKGROUND The role of estrogen and progesterone in ovarian carcinogenesis and the growth and survival of ovarian cancer cells is controversial. In this study, we tested the effects of various concentrations of estrogen and progesterone on the survival of an ovarian cancer cell line. METHODS The ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line, OC-117-VGH, is deficient in the following receptors: estrogen re...

BACKGROUND The ovarian reserve (number and quality of oocytes) is correlated with reproductive potential as well as somatic health, and is likely to have multiple genetic and environmental determinants. Several reproductive hormones are closely linked with the oocyte pool and thus can serve as surrogate markers of ovarian reserve. However, we know little about the underlying genes or genetic va...

Imminent ovarian failure (IOF) in women is characterized by regular menstrual cycles and elevated early follicular phase FSH. This study explored underlying neuroendocrine causes of elevated FSH concentrations on day 3 of the menstrual cycle. The characteristics of episodic secretion of FSH and LH, the pituitary response to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), plasma oestradiol, and dimeric ...

BACKGROUND Information regarding macrophage-mediated regulation of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) by ovarian steroid hormones in women with endometriosis is limited. Therefore, we investigated the regulation of HGF by steroid hormones in isolated macrophages and stromal cells derived from women with or without endometriosis. METHODS We isolated CD68 immunoreactive adherent macrophages in vitr...

BACKGROUND Female sex hormones are known to have immunomodulatory effects. Therefore, reproductive factors and exogenous hormone use could influence the risk of multiple myeloma in women. However, the role of hormonal factors in multiple myeloma etiology remains unclear because previous investigations were underpowered to detect modest associations. METHODS We conducted a pooled analysis of s...

The present short review demonstrates the involvement of sirtuins (SIRTs) in the control of ovarian functions at various regulatory levels. External and endocrine factors can affect female reproduction via SIRTs-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) system, which, via hormones and growth factors, can in turn regulate basic ovarian functions (proliferation, apoptosis, secretory activity of ovaria...