Shifting male-female conflicts of interests across the ovulatory cycle

Sponsorship of medical conferences by the pharmaceutical industry has led to many ethical issues, especially in resource-poor developing countries. The core issue in these instances is to reduce or avoid conflicts of interests (COIs). COI is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by secondary interests. Disruption of social trust should also be considered. This deontological approach should be complemented by a consequentialist approach. Towards this, the concept of distal interests (DI) is introduced. DI lies beyond the immediately visible COIs and the consequences of immediate decisions. They are ‘distal’ in time or place: ‘DI in time’ means consequence of the decision in future scenarios, while ‘DI in space’ means those that impinge on other institutions or bodies. In judging the consequences, it is also necessary to consider the reality of the existing relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and organisers of conferences. In more developed countries, these relationships are governed by stricter regulations, adherence to codes of conduct by both parties and stronger institutional oversights. In contrast, developing countries such as Sri Lanka the regulatory environment is lax and the demarcation of interests between the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession is considerably blurred. Therefore, establishing clear rules of engagement between the stakeholders should be considered as an attempt to clear the muddy waters. The paper proposes a set of guidelines to capture these approaches.

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VARIATIONS IN PLASMA LH LEVELS DURING THE OVULATORY CYCLE OF THE HEN, GALLUS DOMESTICUS

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/jrf.0.0350561 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 561-564 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

S. C. WILSON ◽

P. J. SHARP

Keyword(s):

Gallus Domesticus ◽

Ovulatory Cycle

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Changes in 3β-hydroxy-Δ5-steroid dehydrogenase activity in granulosa tissue during the ovulatory cycle of the laying hen (Gallus domesticus)

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1677/joe.0.1060269 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 106 (3) ◽

pp. 269-273 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. G. Armstrong

Keyword(s):

Enzyme Activity ◽

Dehydrogenase Activity ◽

Domestic Fowl ◽

Ovarian Follicle ◽

Laying Hen ◽

Gallus Domesticus ◽

Ovulatory Cycle ◽

Lh Surge ◽

Maximal Plasma ◽

Steroid Dehydrogenase

ABSTRACT The object of this study was to examine changes in the activity of granulosa 3β-hydroxy-Δ5-steroid dehydrogenase during the ovulatory cycle of the domestic fowl. The enzyme activity in granulosa tissue from the largest follicle increased significantly during the period 8–14 h before an expected ovulation. The increase in activity occurs before the preovulatory surge of LH and near the time of lights off. During the 4–8 h period before an ovulation, i.e. the time of maximal plasma LH concentrations, 3β-hydroxy-Δ5-steroid dehydrogenase activity decreased in granulosa tissue from the largest follicle. This observation is explained by proposing that the enzyme is inhibited by the large amounts of progesterone found in the tissue at this time. The results indicate that important biochemical changes are taking place within granulosa tissue of the largest ovarian follicle before the preovulatory LH surge. J. Endocr. (1985) 106, 269–273

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Varying the patterns and concentrations of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone stimulation does not alter the ratio of LH and FSH released from perifused sheep pituitary cells

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1677/joe.0.1090155 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 109 (2) ◽

pp. 155-161 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

J. E. A. McIntosh ◽

R. P. McIntosh

Keyword(s):

Dose Response ◽

Dose Interval ◽

Follicular Phase ◽

Pituitary Cells ◽

Ovulatory Cycle ◽

Short Term ◽

Releasing Hormone ◽

Dissociated Cells ◽

Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone

ABSTRACT Our aim was to determine whether release of LH and FSH can be controlled differentially by the characteristics of applied signals of stimulatory gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) alone, free of the effects of steroid feedback or other influences from the whole animal. The outputs of both gonadotrophins were significantly correlated (r≈0·90; P<0·0005) when samples of freshly dispersed sheep pituitary cells were perifused in columns for 7 h with medium containing a range of concentrations of GnRH in various patterns of pulses. Hormone released in response to the second, third and fourth pulses from every column was analysed in detail. Dose–response relationships for both LH and FSH were very similar when cells were stimulated with 5–8500 pmol GnRH/1 in 5-min pulses every hour. When GnRH was delivered in pulses at a maximally stimulating level, the outputs of both hormones increased similarly with increasing inter-pulse intervals. Efficiency of stimulation (release of gonadotrophin/unit stimulatory GnRH) decreased (was desensitized) with increasing pulse duration in the same way for both hormones. Thus, varying the dose, interval and duration of GnRH pulses did not alter the proportions of LH and FSH released in the short-term from freshly dissociated cells. However, the same cell preparations released more LH relative to FSH when treated with maximally stimulating levels of GnRH for 3 h in the presence of 10% serum from a sheep in the follicular phase of its ovulatory cycle compared with charcoal-treated serum. Because there was no gonadotrophin synthesis under the conditions used in vitro these results suggest that changes in the LH/FSH ratio seen in whole animals are more likely to result from differential clearance from the circulation, ovarian feedback at the pituitary, differential synthesis in intact tissue or another hormone influencing FSH secretion, rather than from differences in the mechanism of acute release controlled by GnRH. J. Endocr. (1986) 109, 155–161

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