This research aimed to investigate the effects of dbcAMP on steroid accumulation by culturing two distinct luteal cell subpopulations isolated from early and late luteal stage corpora lutea. Cells were isolated from corpora lutea collected from eight Angora goats on either the 5th or 15th days of their estrous cycles. Cell isolation was performed by enzymatic digestion using collagenase and DNa...

Background: There are accumulating evidences showing the role of adiponectin, a newly discovered adipocytokine secreted from adipose tissue, in the regulation of the ovarian function in dairy cows. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the pattern of serum adiponectin concentration during a normal estrous cycle in the postpartum dairy cows. Materials and Methods: Coccygeal vein blo...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to elucidate gene expression and immunolocalization of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) family in the human ovary during luteal growth and regression. METHODS Ovaries obtained from pre-menopausal women were used for immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative RT-PCR ana...

To characterize the action of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin ( TCDD) during both the follicular and luteal phases of the ovarian cycle, the direct effect of TCDD was investigated in vitro using a system of primary monolayer cell culture. Granulosa and theca cells were collected from the preovulatory follicles and cultured as a co-culture, thus resembling follicles in vivo. Luteal cells wer...

Luteoprotective mechanisms of luteinizing hormone (LH) involved in the maintenance of bovine corpus luteum (CL) function have not been completely clarified. Since antioxidant enzymes are well documented as antiapoptotic factors in the CL of many mammals, we hypothesized that the luteoprotective action of LH is mediated by stimulating the local production and action of antioxidant enzymes. To te...

Corpora lutea from cyclic ewes were dissociated by collagenase digestion and trypsin/EGTA treatment. Enriched fractions of endothelial cells, small luteal cells and large luteal cells were prepared on a stepped gradient of Ficoll 400. Progesterone was measured by radioimmunoassay and the results corrected so that progesterone production by each cell type could be determined. Endothelial cells d...

The presence of the acetyl low density lipoprotein (acetyl-LDL), or scavenger receptor, which binds modified forms of LDL, was examined in rat luteal cells. Acetyl-LDL supported progesterone production by dispersed rat luteal cells at least equal to that of the native LDL under basal conditions and in the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The acetyl-LDL-supported progesterone prod...

The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) is a multiethnic cohort study of middle-aged women enrolled at seven US sites. A subset of 848 women completed a substudy in which their urinary gonadotropins and sex steroid metabolites were assessed during one complete menstrual cycle or up to 50 consecutive days. Urine was analyzed for LH, FSH, estrone conjugates (E1c), and pregnanediol gl...