Puberty is a key developmental event whose primary regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Precise dating of puberty is crucial for experimental (preclinical) studies on its complex neuroendocrine controlling networks. In female laboratory rodents, external signs of puberty, such as vaginal opening (VO) and epithelial cell cornification (i.e., first vaginal estrus, FE), are indirectly r...

Title of Thesis: THE EFFECTS OF NEONATAL OXYTOCIN ON SEXUAL MATURATION AND THE EXPRESSION OF SOCIOSEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR IN FEMALE RATS Thomas F. Withuhn, Master of Science, 2004 Thesis directed By: Professor Bruce S. Cushing Department of Biology While the role of oxytocin (OT) in regulating adult behavior data is thoroughly documented, increasing evidence suggests that neonatal exposure...

A 27 year old female presented for fertility preservation prior to undergoing pelvic radiotherapy. She had previously undergone a radical laparoscopic hysterectomy for cervical carcinoma seven months earlier. A trans-vaginal oocyte aspiration was not advisable due to a vaginal recurrence of the disease. Due to a polycystic ovarian morphology (PCO), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) priming wit...

Live-attenuated SIV vaccines (LAVs) have been the most effective to date in preventing or partially controlling infection by wild-type SIV in non-human primate models of HIV-1 transmission to women acting by mechanisms of protection that are not well understood. To gain insights into mechanisms of protection by LAVs that could aid development of effective vaccines to prevent HIV-1 transmission ...

OBJECTIVE The neonatal and/or prepubertal androgen milieu affects sexual maturation. In rodents, neonatal chronic testosterone treatment, which is used as a model of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), results in the onset of vaginal opening occurring earlier in the pubertal period. DESIGN In the present study, the changes in hypothalamic Kiss1 (a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-stimulati...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy, tolerability, and acceptance of a vaginal ring delivering the equivalent of 50 or 100 microg per day of estradiol (E2), compared with placebo, for relief of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms and urogenital symptoms in postmenopausal women. METHODS Women with moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (seven or more per day or 56 per week average) received 13 w...

OBJECTIVE To explore the efficacy of local oxytocin for the treatment of post-menopausal vaginal atrophy. DESIGN Double-blinded randomised controlled trial. SETTING Healthy post-menopausal women in Stockholm, Sweden. PARTICIPANTS Sixty four post-menopausal women between February and June 2012 at the Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge/Sweden. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The efficacy of ox...

Atrophic vaginitis (AV) is common in postmenopausal women, but its causes are not well understood. The symptoms, which include vaginal itching, burning, dryness, irritation, and dyspareunia, can usually be alleviated by low doses of estrogen given orally or locally. Regrettably, the composition of vaginal bacterial communities in women with AV have not been fully characterized and little is kno...

Atrophic vaginitis (AV) is common in postmenopausal women, but its causes are not well understood. The symptoms, which include vaginal itching, burning, dryness, irritation, and dyspareunia, can usually be alleviated by low doses of estrogen given orally or locally. Regrettably, the composition of vaginal bacterial communities in women with AV have not been fully characterized and little is kno...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this prospective comparative cohort study was to establish the effectiveness and safety of Erbium:YAG (Er:YAG) laser treatment for genitourinary syndrome of menopause and to compare it with an established topical estriol treatment. METHODS Fifty patients with genitourinary syndrome of menopause were divided into two groups. The estriol group received a treatment of...