The relationship of structural polarity to functional activities was examined in cultured human thyroid follicles, which were isolated from the thyroid gland of patients with Graves' disease by collagenase treatment. Structural polarity was examined morphologically by electron microscopy, while the functional response to bovine TSH was examined by measuring intracellular cAMP accumulation and T...

K N O W L E D G E of the normal quantitative cyclic changes in the ovarian follicular system would be a meaningful aid in assessing the influence of exogenous agents on the ovary. Previous reports on cyclic changes in bovine vesicular follicles (Hammond, 1927: Cole, 1930; McNutt , 1927: Cupps et al., 19,59; Hansel, 1959) were based on gross counts, or study of the largest follicle in isolated s...

This study evaluated the levels of c-kit mRNA in goat follicles and the effects of kit ligand (KL) on the in vitro development of cultured preantral follicles. Preantral follicles isolated from goat ovarian cortex were cultured for 18 days in α-MEM(+) supplemented with KL (0, 50 or 100 ng/mL) in the absence or presence of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Real-time PCR showed that c-kit mRNA ...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multifactorial, heterogeneous, complex genetic endocrine and metabolic disorder, diagnostically characterized by chronic anovulation, polycystic ovaries and biochemical and clinical manifestations of hyperandrogenism. In patients with PCOS lower apoptotic rates found in granulosa cells compared to women with regular ovulatory cycles and this lea...

Mammalian hair follicles are complex multicellular structures in the skin, which produce hair fibre under the influence of locally produced and systemic signalling systems. Investigation to determine mechanisms of regulation, follicular responses and the importance of nutritional supply have utilised a number of in vivo and in vitro approaches. Included in these are studies on isolated intact a...

OBJECTIVE To develop an efficient technique to preserve primordial follicles from cryopreserved ovarian tissue. DESIGN Frozen-thawed and fresh preantral follicles were mechanically isolated for viability testing, and their morphology was histologically analyzed. SETTING Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, University State of São Paulo, Brazil. ...

The current study aimed to investigate differential expression of inhibin βA (INHβA) and inhibin βB (INHβB) in porcine oocytes before or after in vitro maturation (IVM) isolated from follicles of various sizes. Porcine oocytes isolated from large, medium and small follicles (40 from each) were used to study the INHβA and INHβB protein expression pattern using western blot analysis before or aft...

Fifty-two patients with axillary abscesses were seen during two years. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 34, anaerobic bacteria from 12, and skin flora from five; in one case the pus was sterile. Seven patients with hidradenitis suppurativa had recurrent infection with abscess formation, which was bilateral in three. Anaerobes were isolated in five of these cases and skin flora alone in t...

Activin A is a gonadal protein originally isolated from follicular fluid and is recognized as a local regulator of granulosa cell differentiation. Whether activin A promotes folliculogenesis, however, still remains unclarified. The present study was designed to elucidate the effect of activin A on follicular growth in in vitro follicle culture systems. Preantral follicles, 100-120 microm in dia...

OBJECTIVE To develop an in vitro strategy to support the growth of early-stage follicles and produce mature oocytes competent for fertilization. DESIGN Whole ovaries from 8-day-old mice were cultured for 4 days, and then secondary follicles were isolated and cultured for 12 days in a three-dimensional alginate or fibrin-alginate (FA) hydrogel matrix. SETTING University-affiliated laboratory...