Female reproductive system

This review summarizes the state of the art regarding the phylogenetic origins, recent history and present-day main traits and uses of the Mertolenga cattle breed from Southern Portugal, particularly those related to production performances and product quality. Named after the historical city of Mértola, in southern Portugal, the Mertolenga is one of the fifteen autochthonous bovine breeds of Portugal. It is a cattle breed thoroughly adapted to the poor Mediterranean pastures of the southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula...

Neuroactive steroids are a type of steroid hormones produced within the nervous system or in peripheral glands and then transported to the brain to exert their neuromodulatory effects. Neuroactive steroids have pleiotropic effects, that include promoting myelination, neuroplasticity, and brain development. They also regulate important physiological functions, such as metabolism, feeding, reproduction, and stress response. The homoeostatic processes of metabolism and reproduction are closely linked and mutually dependent...

The manipulation of the somatotropic axis, governing growth, has been a focus of numerous transgenic approaches aimed at developing fast-growing fish for research, medicine and aquaculture purposes. However, the excessively high growth hormone (GH) levels in these transgenic fish often result in deformities that impact both fish health and consumer acceptance. In an effort to mitigate these issues and synchronize exogenous GH expression with reproductive processes, we employed a novel transgenic construct driven by a tilapia luteinizing hormone (LH) promoter...

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in females, usually diagnosed after the age of 50 years. There is a perceived increase in breast cancer cases in young women in two public sector Johannesburg academic hospitals; however, there is a shortage of data to confirm this. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess data on breast cancer in young patients and determine any increase in the number of cases in patients 40 years and younger. METHOD: A retrospective analysis of radiology and histopathology reports of patients 40 years and younger, seen at the radiology departments of two Johannesburg academic hospitals, was performed over a 5-year period...

In flowering plants, outcrossing is commonly ensured by self-incompatibility (SI) systems. These can be homomorphic (typically with many different allelic specificities) or can accompany flower heteromorphism (mostly with just two specificities and corresponding floral types). The SI system of the Oleaceae family is unusual, with the long-term maintenance of only two specificities but often without flower morphology differences. To elucidate the genomic architecture and molecular basis of this SI system, we obtained chromosome-scale genome assemblies of Phillyrea angustifolia individuals and related them to a genetic map...

4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) and micro/nanoplastics (MNPs) are common in personal care and cosmetic products (PCCPs) and consumer goods; however, they have become pervasive environmental contaminants. MNPs serve as carriers of 4-MBC in both PCCPs and the environment. Our previous study demonstrated that 4-MBC induces estrogenic effects in zebrafish larvae. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding the sex- and tissue-specific accumulation and potential toxicities of chronic coexposure to 4-MBC and MNPs...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) on hormonal and metabolic parameters in a group of overweight/obese Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective study in which thirty-two overweight/obese patients with PCOS ( n  = 32) not requiring hormonal treatment were selected from the database of the ambulatory clinic of the Gynecological Endocrinology Center at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy...

BACKGROUND: Nuclear receptors (NRs) are vital for regulating gene expression un organisms. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4), a class of NRs, participates in blood feeding and intestinal maintenance in schistosomes. However, there is limited research on the molecular and functional characterization of HNF4 in Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum). METHODS: Highly specific polyclonal antibodies were generated to analyze the expression and tissue localization of S...

BACKGROUND: Neuregulin_4 (NRG4) is one of the adipokines members that synthesize adipose tissues. It has an activating effect on epidermal growth factor receptors (ErbB receptors). NRG4 has indirect effects on the hormonal environment through its interaction to ErbB receptors. Increased insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammation may be present when NRG4 levels are high in PCOS. Obesity and polycystic ovarian syndrome have recently gained a lot of attention. However, the literature on the connection between NRG4 and the PCOS phenotype is limited...

Endometrial cancer is considered to be the second most common tumor of the female reproductive system, and patients diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer have a poor prognosis. The influence of fatty acid metabolism in the prognosis of patients with endometrial cancer remains unclear. We constructed a prognostic risk model using transcriptome sequencing data of endometrial cancer and clinical information of patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database via least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis...

BACKGROUND: Globally, teenage pregnancy is among the most social problems, affecting 21 million adolescents aged 15-19. Due to the increased responsibility of prenatal and postnatal care for their infants without support, pregnant and parenting teenagers, tend to experience mental health problems. Factors contributing to these problems among pregnant and parenting teenagers in rural African settings have hardly received scholarly attention and, therefore, are less understood. The purpose of the study was to explore mental health and challenges among pregnant and parenting teenagers,...

Infertility, affecting ∼10% of men, is predominantly caused by primary spermatogenic failure (SPGF). We screened likely pathogenic and pathogenic (LP/P) variants in 638 candidate genes for male infertility in 521 individuals presenting idiopathic SPGF and 323 normozoospermic men in the ESTAND cohort. Molecular diagnosis was reached for 64 men with SPGF (12%), with findings in 39 genes (6%). The yield did not differ significantly between the subgroups with azoospermia (20/185, 11%), oligozoospermia (18/181, 10%), and primary cryptorchidism with SPGF (26/155, 17%)...

PURPOSE: Are human embryos arising from two plus one small pronucleated zygotes, called 2.1 pronuclei (PN), clinically useful? METHODS: In a retrospective embryo cohort study and prospective experimental study, a total of 287 cycles in which at least one 2.1PN was identified in the fertilization check were included. Embryonic development and clinical outcome were compared for the 1395 2PN zygotes and 304 2.1PN zygotes that were siblings. All embryos were individually cultured in time-lapse systems...

The role of minerals in female fertility, particularly in relation to the menstrual cycle, presents a complex area of study that underscores the interplay between nutrition and reproductive health. This narrative review aims to elucidate the impacts of minerals on key aspects of the reproductive system: hormonal regulation, ovarian function and ovulation, endometrial health, and oxidative stress. Despite the attention given to specific micronutrients in relation to reproductive disorders, there is a noticeable absence of a comprehensive review focusing on the impact of minerals throughout the menstrual cycle on female fertility...

For much of human evolution, the average lifespan was <40 years, due in part to disease, infant mortality, predators, food insecurity, and, for females, complications of childbirth. Thus, for much of evolution, many females did not reach the age of menopause (45-50 years of age) and it is mainly in the past several hundred years that the lifespan has been extended to >75 years, primarily due to public health advances, medical interventions, antibiotics, and nutrition. Therefore, the underlying biological mechanisms responsible for disease risk following menopause must have evolved during the complex processes leading to Homo sapiens to serve functions in the pre-menopausal state...

3-methyl-4-nitrophenol (PNMC), a well-known constituent of diesel exhaust particles and degradation products of insecticide fenitrothion, is a widely distributed environmental contaminant. PNMC is toxic to the female reproductive system; however, how it affects meiosis progression in oocytes is unknown. In this study, in vitro maturation of mouse oocytes was applied to investigate the deleterious effects of PNMC. We found that exposure to PNMC significantly compromised oocyte maturation. PNMC disturbed the spindle stability; specifically, it decreased the spindle density and increased the spindle length...

In recent years, the expanding roles of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in various aspects of reproductive health have attracted significant attention. Initially recognized for its classical role in male sexual differentiation, AMH is produced postnatally by the Sertoli cells in the male testes and by the granulosa cells in the female ovaries. Traditionally, it was believed to primarily influence gonadal development and function. However, research over the last decade has unveiled novel actions of AMH beyond the gonads, specifically all along the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis...

It has now been about a century since a flurry of discoveries identified first the pituitary, then more specifically the anterior pituitary and soon thereafter the central nervous system as components regulating gonadal and downstream reproductive functions. This was an era of ablation/replacement designs using at first rudimentary and then increasingly pure preparations of gonadal and pituitary "activities" or transplanting actual glands, whole or homogenized, among subjects. There was, of course, controversy as is typical of lively and productive scientific debates to this day...

Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in disorders of the female reproductive system, accompanied by a rise in adverse pregnancy outcomes. This trend is increasingly being linked to environmental pollution, particularly through the lens of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs). These external agents disrupt natural processes of hormones, including synthesis, metabolism, secretion, transport, binding, as well as elimination. These disruptions can significantly impair human reproductive functions. A wealth of animal studies and epidemiological research indicates that exposure to toxic environmental factors can interfere with the endocrine system's normal functioning, resulting in negative reproductive outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and gynaecological morbidities constitute a significant proportion of morbidities in women of the reproductive age group. OBJECTIVE: To find out the proportion of reproductive age group women in an urban resettlement colony having the symptoms of gynaecological morbidities and RTI/sexually transmitted infection (STI) and to explore the healthcare seeking behaviour of the women during such ailments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2023 among 317 females aged 15 to 49 years in an urban resettlement area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh...