OBJECTIVES Aim of this study was to describe the proportion of contributory factors of female infertility in a population that sought fertility treatment. Furthermore, the clinical findings and underlying pathologies associated with ovulatory dysfunction were also sought. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out at the infertility clinic of the North Colombo Teaching Hospital. New clin...

Fertilization at increased times after ovulation is associated with poor reproductive outcomes. This study examines the effects of post-ovulatory ageing on egg membrane function through analyses of mouse eggs collected at 13 and 22 h post-HCG ('young' and 'aged' eggs, respectively). Experiments in which fertilized zona pellucida-free young and aged eggs are challenged with additional sperm reve...

In the daily clinical routine, clarification of menstrual irregularities is one of the major essentials for consultation in gynaecological practice. For an effective therapy, it is necessary to know the exact cause of the bleeding disorders. Menstrual irregularities can be the expression of a disturbed ovarian function or another disorder, usually uterine pathology. The type of menstrual irregu...

Differential transfer of maternal testosterone (T) into egg yolk provides a means of adjusting an offspring’s phenotype to ambient environmental conditions. While the environmental and genetic driven variability in yolk T levels is widely described, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we investigated whether neuroendocrine mechanisms controlling ovulatory processes are associ...

BACKGROUND Ovarian surface epithelial cells are thought to be a precursor cell type for ovarian carcinoma. It has been proposed that an increased rate of ovarian surface epithelial cell proliferation during ovulatory wound repair contributes to the accumulation of genetic changes and cell transformation. The proliferation of ovarian surface epithelial cells during ovulatory wound repair has bee...

In salmonid fishes, estradiol-17beta (E2) and 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20beta-P) are the major steroid hormones controlling oocyte growth (vitellogenesis) and final maturation (resumption of meiosis). The aim of this study was to determine changes in mRNAs encoding ovarian steroidogenic enzymes and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) during ovarian development in f...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical response and endometrial morphology during the implantation window on ovarian hyperstimulation with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole in infertile ovulatory women. DESIGN Prospective trial in infertile patients. SETTING Tertiary care hospital. PATIENT(S) Eight ovulatory infertile patient candidates for ovarian superovulation. INTERVENTION(S) Subjects w...

BACKGROUND Risk for ovarian cancer correlates directly with "ovulatory years or cycles" estimated from time not pregnant, breast-feeding, or using oral contraceptives. Recently, we reported that several factors known to reduce ovarian cancer risk may operate by inducing antibodies against mucin 1 (MUC1), a glycoprotein overexpressed in ovarian cancer. Conversely, other events might increase ris...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fasting and exogenous insulin administration on the expression of growth hormone receptor (GHR) and IGF-I mRNA in the pre-ovulatory follicle of ewes. Fifteen ewes received an intravaginal progesterone releasing device that was removed 6 days later (day of removal = day 0). On day -2, the ewes were divided into three groups: (i) fasting grou...

Chemical signaling is a prominent mode of male-female communication among elephants, especially during their sexually active periods. Studies on the Asian elephant in zoos have shown the significance of a urinary pheromone (Z7-12:Ac) in conveying the reproductive status of a female toward the opposite sex. We investigated the additional possibility of an inter-sexual chemical signal being conve...