In hermaphroditic plants, female reproductive success often varies among different positions within an inflorescence. However, few studies have evaluated the relative importance of underlying causes such as pollen limitation, resource limitation or architectural effect, and few have compared male allocation. During a 2-year investigation, we found that female reproductive success of an acropeta...

Molecular analyses in several taxa have consistently shown that genes involved in reproduction are rapidly evolving and subjected to positive selection. The mechanism behind this evolution is not clear, but several proposed hypotheses involve the coevolution between males and females. In Drosophila, several male reproductive proteins (Acps) involved in male-male and male-female interactions sho...

Obesity is a severe metabolic disorder, characterized with increases in energy intake and a decrease in energy output concerning body weight and glucose metabolism (1) Obesity is associated with many important complications such as diabetes and coronary heart disease (2) sleep apnea and pulmonary dysfunction, stroke, diseases of the gallbladder, liver and the musculoskeletal system, reproductiv...

Background and objectives: Female sexual dysfunction is a very common health problem that affects 25-65% of women. Melissa officinalis or lemon balm (Lamiaceae) has been reported in folk medicine for treatment of nervous debility, so this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of M. officinalis to improve female libido. Methods: Eighty ni...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Leptin, a key hormone in energy homeostasis and neuroendocrine function, has a permissive role in initiating puberty and is crucial in the pathogenesis of reproductive dysfunction in several disease states of energy imbalance. KiSS1 neurons have recently been suggested to mediate leptin's effect on the reproductive system. New insights from recent animal studies and clinical t...

Reproductive dysfunctions are common and wide-ranging in women with epilepsy. Menstrual cycle disruption, anovulatory cycles, disturbances in hypothalamic and/or pituitary hormones, and disturbances in gonadal steroids are more common among women with epilepsy. Sexual dysfunction can present as either disorders of desire or physiologic arousal, but the most common dysfunction appears to be an i...

Many well-trained athletes, ballet dancers and women who diet excessively have secondary or primary amenorrhoea. Less extensive training or weight loss may result in anovulatory menstrual cycles, or a shortened luteal phase. These disruptions of reproductive ability are due to hypothalamic dysfunction, which is correlated with weight loss or excessive leanness. It is proposed that these associa...

Female middle age is characterized by a decline in skeletal muscle mass and performance, predisposing women to sarcopenia, functional limitations, and metabolic dysfunction as they age. Menopausal loss of ovarian function leading to low circulating level of 17β-estradiol has been suggested as a contributing factor to aging-related muscle deterioration. However, the underlying molecular mechanis...

background: higher risks of reproductive problems have been found in underweight and overweight women with rapid weight gain or loss but evidence is inconsistent especially in relation to the effect of age of body weight changes. objective: the aim of our study was to detect the peculiarities of menstrual function, prevalence of different types of reproductive disorders and correlations of resp...

Mate attraction can be costly. Thus, individuals should modulate it according to its probable benefits. Specifically, individuals should modulate mate-attraction efforts based on their need for, the probability of attracting, and the reproductive competence of prospective mates. We tested these predictions by monitoring song output in laboratory-housed male Cassin's finches (Carpodacus cassinii...