BACKGROUND Ovarian cysts are a common cause for gynecological surgery. However, some cysts are a direct result of endocrine disorders and do not require surgery. This report describes an unusual case in which persistent ovarian cysts are associated with primary hypothyroidism in a young woman. The data were collected by history-taking, physical examination, laboratory tests, ultrasound, magneti...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of slow cryopreservation on the morphology and function of primate primordial follicles within ovarian tissue slices. DESIGN Fresh monkey ovarian tissue was frozen by slow cryopreservation and thawed for analysis of morphologic and functional parameters. SETTING University-affiliated laboratory. ANIMALS Rhesus monkey ovarian tissue. INTERVENTION(S) No...

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 ...

Rising serum FSH levels is one of the earliest signs of human female reproductive aging. Whether or not elevated FSH remains a passive reflection of a diminishing ovarian follicle pool or actively contributes to declining female fertility with age has not been established. We therefore investigated female reproduction in mice expressing progressively rising serum levels of transgenic human FSH ...

The ovarian follicle is the fundamental unit of the ovary. It contains the oocyte that may eventually ovulate, undergo fertilization and form an embryo. It also provides the steroid and protein hormones required for maintenance of the ovarian cycle, the secondary sex characteristics and preparation of the uterus for implantation. Follicle formation and folliculogenesis have been well documented...

BACKGROUND rhFSH and rhActA have been used in mammalian ovarian follicle culture systems for activation of follicular growth in vitro and suggested to be responsible for primordial follicle survival through MAPK and Akt pathways. The aim of our study was to determine the effects of rhFSH and rhActA on Akt, pAkt, MAPK1/3 and pMAPK1/3 protein levels in bovine ovarian cortical strips cultured in v...

STUDY QUESTION What are the effects of exposure of ovarian tissue to dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation in vivo? SUMMARY ANSWER DHEA exposure stimulates initiation of primordial follicles and development of gonadotrophin-responsive preantral/early antral follicles possibly mediated through promoting granulosa cell proliferation and enhancing anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) expression....

Except for histological study, there are currently no suitable techniques available for the detection and identification of primordial follicles in ovary of primary ovarian insufficiency patients who have undetectable AMH levels. Also, the ability to locate and quantify follicles on ovarian cortex strips, without fixation, is valuable for patients who could undergo subsequent successful ovarian...

Determination of ovarian status and follicle monitoring are common methods of diagnosing female infertility. We evaluated the suitability of selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) for the study of ovarian follicles. The large field of view and fast acquisition speed of our SPIM system enables rendering of volumetric image stacks from intact whole porcine ovarian follicles, clearly visua...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the ovarian reserve function in female patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS This study evaluated 136 subjects, 67 with MetS and 69 controls. Subjects were divided into three age groups. Group I included 49 subjects aged 20-29 years, 22 with MetS and 27 controls; group II included 45 subjects aged 30-39 years, 22 with MetS and 23 controls; and group III includ...