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Female Reproductive Physiology (female + reproductive_physiology)
Selected AbstractsRestricted, but abundant, expression of the novel rat gene-3 (R3) relaxin in the dorsal tegmental region of brainJOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2002Tanya C. D. Burazin Abstract Relaxin is a peptide hormone with known actions associated with female reproductive physiology, but it has also been identified in the brain. Only one relaxin gene had been characterized in rodents until recently when a novel human relaxin gene, human gene-3 (H3) and its mouse equivalent (M3) were identified. The current study reports the identification of a rat homologue, rat gene-3 (R3) relaxin that is highly expressed in a discrete region of the adult brain. The full R3 relaxin cDNA was generated using RT-PCR and 3, and 5, RACE protocols. The derived amino acid sequence of R3 relaxin retains all the characteristic features of a relaxin peptide and has a high degree of homology with H3 and M3 relaxin. The distribution of R3 relaxin mRNA in adult rat brain was determined and highly abundant expression was only detected in neurons of the ventromedial dorsal tegmental nucleus (vmDTg) in the pons, whereas all other brain areas were unlabelled or contained much lower mRNA levels. Relaxin binding sites and relaxin immunoreactivity were also detected in the vmDTg. These together with earlier findings provide strong evidence for a role(s) for multiple relaxin peptides as neurotransmitters and/or modulators in the rat CNS. [source] Introduction of agriculture and its effects on women's oral healthAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010James T. Watson This study explores the dynamic relationship between the introduction of agriculture and its effects on women's oral health by testing the hypothesis that female reproductive physiology contributes to an oral environment more susceptible to chronic oral disease and that, in a population undergoing the foraging to farming transition, females will exhibit a higher prevalence of oral pathology than males. This is tested by comparing the presence, location, and severity of caries lesions and antemortem tooth loss across groups of reproductive aged and postreproductive females (n = 71) against corresponding groups of males (n = 71) in an Early Agricultural period (1600 B.C.,A.D. 200) skeletal sample from northwest Mexico. Caries rates did not differ by sex across age groups in the sample; however, females were found to exhibit significantly more antemortem tooth loss than males (P > 0.01). Differences were initially minimal but increased by age cohort until postreproductive females experienced a considerable amount of tooth loss, during a life stage when the accumulation of bodily insults likely contributed to dental exfoliation. Higher caries rates in females are often cited as the result of gender differences and dietary disparities in agricultural communities. In an early farming community, with diets being relatively equal, women were found to experience similar caries expression but greater tooth loss. We believe this differential pattern of oral pathology provides new evidence in support of theinterpretation that women's oral health is impacted by effects relating to reproductive biology. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Reproductive ecology and the endometrium: Physiology, variation, and new directionsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue S49 2009Kathryn B.H. Clancy Abstract Endometrial function is often overlooked in the study of fertility in reproductive ecology, but it is crucial to implantation and the support of a successful pregnancy. Human female reproductive physiology can handle substantial energy demands that include the production of fecund cycles, ovulation, fertilization, placentation, a 9-month gestation, and often several years of lactation. The particular morphology of the human endometrium as well as our relative copiousness of menstruation and large neonatal size suggests that endometrial function has more resources allocated to it than many other primates. The human endometrium has a particularly invasive kind of hemochorial placentation and trophoblast that maximizes surface area and maternal,fetal contact, yet these processes are actually less efficient than the placentation of some of our primate relatives. The human endometrium and its associated processes appear to prioritize maximizing the transmission of oxygen and glucose to the fetus over efficiency and protection of maternal resources. Ovarian function controls many aspects of endometrial function and thus variation in the endometrium is often a reflection of ecological factors that impact the ovaries. However, preliminary evidence and literature from populations of different reproductive states, ages and pathologies also suggests that ecological stress plays a role in endometrial variation, different from or even independent of ovarian function. Immune stress and psychosocial stress appear to play some role in the endometrium's ability to carry a fetus through the mechanism of inflammation. Thus, within reproductive ecology we should move towards a model of women's fecundity and fertility that includes many components of ecological stress and their effects not only on the ovaries, but on processes related to endometrial function. Greater attention on the endometrium may aid in unraveling several issues in hominoid and specifically human evolutionary biology: a low implantation rate, high rates of early pregnancy loss, prenatal investment in singletons but postnatal support of several dependent offspring at once, and higher rate of reproductive and pregnancy-related pathology compared to other primates, ranging from endometriosis to preeclampsia. The study of the endometrium may also complicate some of these issues, as it raises the question of why humans have a maximally invasive placentation method and yet slow fetal growth rates. In this review, I will describe endometrial physiology, methods of measurement, variation, and some of the ecological variables that likely produce variation and pregnancy losses to demonstrate the necessity of further study. I propose several basic avenues of study that leave room for testable hypotheses in the field of reproductive ecology. And finally, I describe the potential of this work not just in reproductive ecology, but in the resolution of broader women's health issues. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 52:137,154, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] ORIGINAL RESEARCH,BASIC SCIENCE: Fluoxetine-Induced Decrements in Sexual Responses of Female Rats and Hamsters Are Reversed by 3,,5,-THPTHE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 8 2010Cheryl A. Frye PhD ABSTRACT Introduction., Sexual dysfunction, as a result of selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment among women, is relatively common and is a factor in medication compliance. The mechanisms that underlie these side-effects of SSRIs are not well-understood. SSRIs can alter activity of catabolic enzymes that are involved in progesterone's conversion to 5,-pregnan-3,-ol-20-one (3,,5,-THP). 3,,5,-THP plays a key role in female reproductive physiology and behavior. Aims., This study aimed to determine whether 3,,5,-THP, in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) may be a potential mechanism for fluoxetine's reduction in sexual responding of female rodents. We hypothesized that if fluoxetine induces decrements in sexual responding in part through actions of 3,,5,-THP, then fluoxetine will inhibit sexual receptivity concomitant with reducing 3,,5,-THP levels, effects which can be reversed by 3,,5,-THP administration. Methods., Experiment 1 investigated effects of acute systemic fluoxetine [20 mg/kg intraperitoneal (IP)] and/or 3,,5,-THP [500 µg, subcutaneous (SC)] administration on sexual responding of ovariectomized, hormone-primed rats. Experiment 2 examined effects of 3,,5,-THP administration to the midbrain VTA (100 ng) on fluoxetine-induced decrements in lordosis of ovariectomized, hormone-primed rats and hamsters. Main Outcome Measures., Sexual responding was determined in rats and hamsters. For rats, the percentage of times that the lordosis response occurred following mounting by a sexually-vigorous male (lordosis quotients) was utilized. For hamsters, lateral displacement, the pelvic movement that females will make to facilitate intromissions by a male hamster, was utilized. Results., Fluoxetine significantly reduced lordosis, and this was reversed SC 3,,5,-THP. Intra-VTA 3,,5,-THP attenuated fluoxetine's detrimental effects on lordosis quotients and lateral displacement of rats and hamsters, respectively. Conclusions., Thus, fluoxetine's effects to disrupt female sexual responses may involve its effects on progestogens in the midbrain VTA. Frye CA, and Rhodes ME. Fluoxetine-induced decrements in sexual responses of female rats and hamsters are reversed by 3,,5,-THP. J Sex Med 2010;7:2670,2680. [source] | ||||||||||