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Purpose Controlled ovarian stimulation significantly amplifies the number of maturing and ovulated follicles as well as ovarian steroid production. The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) increases capillary permeability and fluid extravasation. Vascular integrity intensely is regulated by an endothelial glycocalyx (EGX) and we have shown that ovulatory cycles are associated with shedding of EGX components. This study investigates if controlled ovarian stimulation impacts on the integrity of the endothelial glycocalyx as this might explain key pathomechanisms of the OHSS. Methods Serum levels of endothelial glycocalyx components of infertility patients (n=18) undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation were compared to a control group of healthy women with regular ovulatory cycles (n=17). Results Patients during luteal phases of controlled ovarian stimulation cycles as compared to normal ovulatory cycles showed significantly increased Syndecan-1 serum concentrations (12.6 ng/ml 6.1125th–19.1375th to 13.9 ng/ml 9.625th–28.975th; p=0.026), indicating shedding and degradation of the EGX. Conclusion A shedding of EGX components during ovarian stimulation has not yet been described. Our study suggests that ovarian stimulation may affect the integrity of the endothelial surface layer and increasing vascular permeability. This could explain key features of the OHSS and provide new ways of prevention of this serious condition of assisted reproduction.

While many theories exist on the evolution of the sexual swelling signal in female primates, the significance of the very large and variable swellings found in some catarrhine primates is still debated. As suggested by Pagel [(1994) Anim Behav 47:1333–1341], these exaggerated and costly signals have the potential to provide information about differential female reproductive quality to males. While Domb [(2000) Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge] and Domb and Pagel [(2001) Nature 410:204–206] propose that swellings serve to reliably indicate between-female fitness differences, we hypothesize that they may indicate current reproductive cycle quality, within or between females. This study examines the between-cycle relationship between ovarian function, gauged via fecal steroid analysis, and absolute size of sexual swellings, yielded through photogrammetric methods. Fourteen cycles from eight captive, group-living chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) exhibited considerable variability both in ovarian steroid levels and maximum sexual swelling size. Nearly all measures of a female's maximal swelling in a cycle correlated with early follicular and early luteal estradiol averages and the duration of luteal progesterone elevation. Swelling area was also correlated with late follicular estradiol. Given past evidence that such measures of ovarian function predict conceptive success, these data strongly suggest that swellings could convey information to competing males about the fecundability of a potential mate.

Die genetischen Hintergrunde des PCOS sind noch weitgehend ungeklart. Familienanalysen lassen uberwiegend einen autosomal-dominanten Hintergrund vermuten. Vor allem Gene der adrenalen und ovariellen Steroidbiosynthese sowie des Insulinstoffwechsels sind bezuglich ihres Zusammenhanges mit der Pathogenese des PCOS untersucht worden. Polymorphismen des CYP11A-Gens sind am ehesten mit PCOS assoziiert. Bei 20–30% der PCOS-Patientinnen mit pathologischem ACTH-Test finden sich Mutationen im CYP21B-Gen. Im Insulinstoffwechsel finden sich Varianten im Insulinrezeptorgen und im Gen des TNF-Rezeptors 2 mit dem PCOS assoziiert. Zusammenfassend liesen sich jedoch bisher keine eindeutigen und in unabhangigen Kollektiven reproduzierbare Befunde nachweisen, die fur den sicheren pathogenetischen Zusammenhang eines Kandidatengens mit dem PCOS sprechen. The genetic background of PCOS is still a matter of debate and widely unknown. Family studies show some correlation with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. In particular, genes of adrenal and ovarian steroid biosynthesis and insulin metabolism have been extensively examined. There is good evidence for an association of polymorphisms of the CYP11A gene with PCOS. Furthermore, 20–30% of PCOS patients with a pathological ACTH test show mutations of the CYP21B gene. Concerning insulin metabolism, variations of the insulin receptor gene and the TNF receptor 2 gene have been described. However, today there is no definite proof for the existence of candidate genes for PCOS in groups of exactly defined and carefully analyzed PCOS patients.

Ovarian maturation was slowed significantly when photostimulated mallard ducks were given petroleum-contaminated food. When they started to lay, oviposition occurred in erratic short sequences interrupted by long anovulatory periods, and eggs were laid during a longer-than-normal interval of the daily light phase. During the ovulatory cycle, mean daily plasma concentrations of estradiol and estrone were significantly lower in contaminated than in uncontaminated birds. Preovulatory variations in plasma estrogen concentration in uncontaminated birds consisted of two maxima separated by a well-defined nadir during mid-phase; no significant cyclical changes occurred in the contaminated birds. Consumption of contaminated food did not affect mean daily plasma progesterone concentrations during the ovulatory cycle. In both groups, preovulatory variations in plasma progesterone consisted of a single peak during the 9-hr period preceding ovulation. During short pauses in egg-laying, mean daily estradiol and estrone concentrations declined significantly in the uncontaminated but not in the contaminated birds. During longer pauses, which occurred only among contaminated birds, plasma concentrations of estradiol and progesterone were both significantly lower than they were during short pauses.

A SERIES of experiments concerned with the influence of prolactin on spermatogenesis and on the accessory reproductive structures in mice led to the suggestion that prolactin can stimulate the production of testicular androgens1. In the female, prolactin is known to affect the synthesis of ovarian steroid hormones; its luteotropic action in the mouse and the rat is particularly well established. The results obtained in the rat2,3, the rabbit4 and in the perfused bovine ovary5 indicate that the prolactin effects on ovarian steroidogenesis may be mediated, at least in part, by changes in cholesterol storage and perhaps discharge. The present work investigates the influence of prolactin on cholesterol stores in the mouse testis.