Fetal programming by androgen excess in rats affects ovarian fuel sensors and steroidogenesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 645-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giselle Adriana Abruzzese ◽  
Maria Florencia Heber ◽  
Fiorella Campo Verde Arbocco ◽  
Silvana Rocio Ferreira ◽  
Alicia Beatriz Motta
Keyword(s):  
Fetal Programming ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Follicular Development ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Androgen Excess ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Reproductive Disorder ◽  
Main Factors

AbstractFetal programming by androgen excess is hypothesized as one of the main factors contributing to the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is more than a reproductive disorder, as women with PCOS also show metabolic and other endocrine alterations. Since both ovarian and reproductive functions depend on energy balance, the alterations in metabolism may be related to reproductive alterations. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of androgen excess during prenatal life on ovarian fuel sensors and its consequences on steroidogenesis. To this end, pregnant rats were hyperandrogenized with testosterone and the following parameters were evaluated in their female offspring: follicular development, PPARG levels, adipokines (including leptin, adiponectin, and chemerin as ovarian fuel sensors), serum gonadotropins (LH and FSH), the mRNA of their ovarian receptors, and the expression of steroidogenic mediators. At 60 days of age, the prenatally hyperandrogenized (PH) female offspring displayed both an irregular ovulatory phenotype and an anovulatory phenotype with altered follicular development and the presence of cysts. Both PH groups showed altered levels of both proteins and mRNA of PPARG and a different expression pattern of the adipokines studied. Although serum gonadotropins were not impaired, there were alterations in the mRNA levels of their ovarian receptors. The steroidogenic mediators Star, Cyp11a1, Cyp17a1, and Cyp19a1 were altered differently in each of the PH groups. We concluded that androgen excess during prenatal life leads to developmental programming effects that affect ovarian fuel sensors and steroidogenesis in a phenotype-specific way.

Effect of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin system in a pubertal rat model of polycystic ovary syndrome

2021 ◽  
pp. 096452842097129
Author(s):  
Zhi Wang ◽  
Li Yang ◽  
Hui Dong ◽  
Haoxu Dong ◽  
Ling Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Rat Model ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Model Group ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Pregnant Rats

Objective: To explore the effects and mechanism of action of electroacupuncture (EA) in a rat model of pubertal polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: Female offspring of Sprague-Dawley rats receiving dihydrotestosterone (DHT) during pregnancy (days 16–19), as a model of prenatal androgenization, were divided randomly into three groups: model group (M), EA group, and sham acupuncture (SA) group (n = 8 each). A normal (N) group comprising female offspring of healthy pregnant rats not receiving DHT (n = 8) was added. EA was administered at CV6 and bilateral SP6/ST36 with 2 Hz frequency and 2 mA intensity. SA consisted of superficial needling at different locations without electrical stimulation. Results: EA improved the disturbed estrous cycles, while it could not be concluded that SA was effective in this respect. EA improved ovarian morphology including the number of corpora lutea and area of the ovary, whereas SA did not. However, both EA and SA attenuated the increased luteinizing hormone and decreased estradiol and gonadotropin-releasing hormone levels in the serum of PCOS model rats. Levels of testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and progesterone did not significantly differ between groups. EA and SA alleviated the upregulation of kisspeptin protein and mRNA levels in the hypothalamus and kisspeptin protein level in the arcuate nucleus (ARC). No differences were found between groups in protein or mRNA expression of dynorphin (DYN) or neurokinin B (NKB) in the hypothalamus. Co-expression of kisspeptin, NKB, and DYN were observed in ARC. The GnRH level in the median eminence decreased and could be rescued by EA and SA. Intriguingly, kisspeptin levels in the granulosa cells of the ovary decreased in the model group and could be rescued by EA but not SA. Levels of kisspeptin, NKB, and DYN protein and mRNA in the ovary did not differ between any groups. Conclusion: Both EA and SA appeared to improve symptoms of PCOS at puberty by modulating the kisspeptin system in the hypothalamus. EA also had an effect on ovarian kisspeptin expression and a more comprehensive effect with respect to improving PCOS at puberty than SA.

Prenatal androgen excess alters the uterine peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) system

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1401
Author(s):  
Silvana R. Ferreira ◽  
Leandro M. Vélez ◽  
Maria F. Heber ◽  
Giselle A. Abruzzese ◽  
Alicia B. Motta
Keyword(s):  
Fetal Programming ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Androgen Excess ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptors ◽  
Pg E2 ◽  
Prenatal Androgen

It is known that androgen excess induces changes in fetal programming that affect several physiological pathways. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) α, δ and γ are key mediators of female reproductive functions, in particular in uterine tissues. Thus, we aimed to study the effect of prenatal hyperandrogenisation on the uterine PPAR system. Rats were treated with 2mg testosterone from Day 16 to 19 of pregnancy. Female offspring (PH group) were followed until 90 days of life, when they were killed. The PH group exhibited an anovulatory phenotype. We quantified uterine mRNA levels of PPARα (Ppara), PPARδ (Ppard), PPARγ (Pparg), their regulators peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (Ppargc1a) and nuclear receptor co-repressor 1 (Ncor1) and cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 (Ptgs2), and assessed the lipid peroxidation (LP) index and levels of glutathione (GSH) and prostaglandin (PG) E2. The PH group showed decreased levels of all uterine PPAR isoforms compared with the control group. In addition, PGE2 and Ptgs2 levels were increased in the PH group, which led to a uterine proinflammatory environment, as was LP, which led to a pro-oxidant status that GSH was not able to compensate for. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to androgen excess has a fetal programming effect that affects the gene expression of PPAR isoforms, and creates a misbalanced oxidant–antioxidant state and a proinflammatory status.

scholarly journals Review: Fetal Programming of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome by Androgen Excess — Evidence from Experimental, Clinical and Genetic Association Studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-130
Author(s):  
N Xita ◽  
A Tsatsoulis
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Genetic Association ◽  
Fetal Programming ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Genetic Association Studies ◽  
Androgen Excess ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
21 Hydroxylase Deficiency

ABSTRACT Objective Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder of premenopausal women, characterized by hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovaries, and chronic anovulation along with insulin resistance and abdominal obesity as frequent metabolic traits. Although, PCOS manifests clinically during adolescence, emerging data suggest that the natural history of PCOS may originate in intrauterine life. Evidence Acquisition Evidence from experimental, clinical, and genetic research supporting the hypothesis for the fetal origins of PCOS has been analyzed. Evidence Synthesis Female primates, exposed in utero to androgen excess, exhibit the phenotypic features of PCOS during adult life. Clinical observations also support a potential fetal origin of PCOS. Women with fetal androgen excess disorders, including congenital 21-hydroxylase deficiency and congenital adrenal virilizing tumors, develop features characteristic of PCOS during adulthood despite the normalization of androgen excess after birth. The potential mechanisms of fetal androgen excess leading to a PCOS phenotype in humans are not clearly understood. However, maternal and/or fetal hyperandrogenism can provide a plausible mechanism for fetal programming of PCOS, and this, in part, may be genetically determined. Thus, genetic association studies have indicated that common polymorphic variants of genes determining androgen activity or genes that influence the availability of androgens to target tissues are associated with PCOS and increased androgen levels. These genomic variants may provide the genetic link to prenatal androgenization in human PCOS. Conclusion Prenatal androgenization of the female fetus induced by genetic and environmental factors, or the interaction of both, may program differentiating target tissues toward the development of PCOS phenotype in adult life.

scholarly journals Metformin improves ovarian insulin signaling alterations caused by fetal programming

2019 ◽  
Vol 240 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Florencia Heber ◽  
Silvana Rocío Ferreira ◽  
Giselle Adriana Abruzzese ◽  
Raíces Trinidad ◽  
Omar P Pignataro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Signaling ◽  
Fetal Programming ◽  
Insulin Action ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Oocyte Quality ◽  
Serine Phosphorylation ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Metformin Treatment ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Estrous Cyclicity

Insulin resistance is the decreased ability of insulin to mediate metabolic actions. In the ovary, insulin controls ovulation and oocyte quality. Alterations in ovarian insulin signaling pathway could compromise ovarian physiology. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of fetal programming on ovarian insulin signaling and evaluate the effect of metformin treatment. Pregnant rats were hyperandrogenized with testosterone and female offspring born to those dams were employed; at adulthood, prenatally hyperandrogenized (PH) offspring presented two phenotypes: irregular ovulatory (PHiov) and anovulatory (PHanov). Half of each group was orally treated with metformin. Metformin treatment improved the estrous cyclicity in both PH groups. Both PH groups showed low mRNA levels of Ir, Irs1 and Glut4. Irs2 was decreased only in PHanov. Metformin upregulated the mRNA levels of some of the mediators studied. Protein expression of IR, IRS1/2 and GLUT4 was decreased in both PH groups. In PHiov, metformin restored the expression of all the mediators, whereas in PHanov, metformin restored only that of IR and IRS1/2. IRS1 phosphorylation was measured in tyrosine residues, which activates the pathway, and in serine residues, which impairs insulin action. PHiov presented high IRS1 phosphorylation on tyrosine and serine residues, whereas PHanov showed high serine phosphorylation and low tyrosine phosphorylation. Metformin treatment lowered serine phosphorylation only in PHanov rats. Our results suggest that PHanov rats have a defective insulin action, partially restored with metformin. PHiov rats had less severe alterations, and metformin treatment was more effective in this phenotype.

Fetal programming by androgen excess impairs liver lipid content and PPARg expression in adult rats

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Aimé Florencia Silva ◽  
Giselle Adriana Abruzzese ◽  
María José Ferrer ◽  
María Florencia Heber ◽  
Silvana Rocío Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Content ◽  
Fetal Programming ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Liver Lipid ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Androgen Excess ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Liver Lipid Content

Abstract It is known that prenatal hyperandrogenization induces alterations since early stages of life, contributing to the development of polycystic ovary syndrome affecting the reproductive axis and the metabolic status, thus promoting others associated disorders, such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, liver dysfunction, and even steatosis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of fetal programming by androgen excess on the hepatic lipid content and metabolic mediators at adult life. Pregnant rats were hyperandrogenized with daily subcutaneous injections of 1 mg of free testosterone from days 16 to 19 of pregnancy. The prenatally hyperandrogenized (PH) female offspring displayed two phenotypes: irregular ovulatory phenotype (PHiov) and anovulatory phenotype (PHanov), with different metabolic and endocrine features. We evaluated the liver lipid content and the main aspect of the balance between fatty acid (FA) synthesis and oxidation. We investigated the status of the peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) alpha and gamma, which act as lipid mediators, and the adipokine chemerin, one marker of liver alterations. We found that prenatal hyperandrogenization altered the liver lipid profile with increased FAs levels in the PHanov phenotype and decreased cholesterol content in the PHiov phenotype. FA metabolism was also disturbed, including decreased mRNA and protein PPARgamma levels and impaired gene expression of the main enzymes involved in lipid metabolism. Moreover, we found low chemerin protein levels in both PH phenotypes. In conclusion, these data suggest that prenatal hyperandrogenization exerts a negative effect on the liver and alters lipid content and metabolic mediators’ expression at adult age.

scholarly journals Human DENND1A.V2 Drives Cyp17a1 Expression and Androgen Production in Mouse Ovaries and Adrenals

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria E. Teves ◽  
Bhavi P. Modi ◽  
Rewa Kulkarni ◽  
Angela X. Han ◽  
Jamaia S. Marks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Transgenic Mice ◽  
Immunohistochemical Staining ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Androgen Excess ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Steroid Production ◽  
Theca Cells ◽  
The Impact

The DENND1A locus is associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disorder characterized by androgen excess. Theca cells from ovaries of PCOS women have elevated levels of a DENND1A splice variant (DENND1A.V2). Forced expression of this variant in normal theca cells increases androgen biosynthesis and CYP17A1 expression, whereas knockdown of the transcript in PCOS theca cells reduced androgen production and CYP17A1 mRNA. We attempted to create a murine model of PCOS by expressing hDENND1A.V2 using standard transgenic approaches. There is no DENND1A.V2 protein equivalent in mice, and the murine Dennd1a gene is essential for viability since Dennd1a knockout mice are embryonically lethal, suggesting that Dennd1a is developmentally critical. Three different hDENND1A.V2 transgenic mice lines were created using CMV, Lhcgr, and TetOn promoters. The hDENND1A.V2 mice expressed hDENND1A.V2 transcripts. While hDENND1A.V2 protein was not detectable by Western blot analyses, appropriate hDENND1A.V2 immunohistochemical staining was observed. Corresponding Cyp17a1 mRNA levels were elevated in ovaries and adrenals of CMV transgenic mice, as were plasma steroid production by theca interstitial cells isolated from transgenic ovaries. Even though the impact of robust hDENND1A.V2 expression could not be characterized, our findings are consistent with the notion that elevated hDENND1A.V2 has a role in the hyperandrogenemia of PCOS.

scholarly journals Fetal programming of polycystic ovary syndrome: Effects of androgen exposure on prenatal ovarian development

2021 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 105830
Author(s):  
Maya Barsky ◽  
Jamie Merkison ◽  
Pardis Hosseinzadeh ◽  
Liubin Yang ◽  
Janet Bruno-Gaston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Fetal Programming ◽  
Ovarian Development ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Androgen Exposure
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