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In cattle and other species, the fetal ovary is steroidogenically active before follicular development commences, and there is evidence that estradiol and progesterone inhibit follicle formation and activation. Estradiol levels decline sharply around the time of follicle formation. In the present study, we hypothesized that FGF10 and FGF18, which inhibit estradiol secretion from granulosa cells of antral follicles, also regulate fetal ovarian steroid production. Fetuses were collected at local abattoirs, and age determined by crown-rump length measurements. Real-time polymerase chain reaction assays with RNA extracted from whole ovaries revealed that the abundance of CYP19A1 messenger RNA (mRNA) decreased from 60 to 90 days of gestation, which is consistent with the decline in estradiol secretion previously observed. Immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of FGF18 in ovigerous cords in early gestation and in oocytes later in fetal age (≥150 days). The abundance of FGF18 mRNA increased after Day 90 gestation. Addition of recombinant FGF18 to fetal ovarian pieces inhibited estradiol and progesterone secretion in vitro, whereas FGF10 was without effect. Consistent with these results, FGF18 decreased levels of mRNA for CYP19A1 and CYP11A1 in ovarian pieces in vitro. These data suggest that FGF18 may be an intraovarian factor that regulates steroidogenesis in fetal ovaries.

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Ovulation has long been recognized as one of the most dramatic reproductive processes. Decades of research on how the LH/FSH surge leads to ovulation have made it clear that the surge induces a very complex cascade of changes. Studies of genetically modified mice have pointed to progesterone (P4) and its receptor (PGR) and the prostaglandins (PGs) as critical components of the ovulatory cascade. In cattle, the gonadotropin surge also induces oxytocin (OT), which does not appear to increase in rodent periovulatory follicles. This review is an attempt to summarize studies by our laboratory on the temporal patterns, roles, regulation, and interrelationships among P4/PGR, PGs, and OT in bovine periovulatory follicles. Most of these results are based on an experimental model in which the dominant follicle of the first follicular wave of the estrous cycle is induced to develop into a preovulatory follicle by injection of PGF(2α) on Day 6 of the cycle, followed 36 h later by an injection of GnRH to induce the LH/FSH surge. The results suggest that the effects of the gonadotropin surge on PG production by bovine granulosa cells are mediated by the gonadotropin-induced increase in intrafollicular P4 and that P4 acts by binding to its nuclear receptor and increasing the abundance of mRNA for the enzyme PTGS2 (COX-2). Our data thus far also support the hypothesis that PGs, especially PGE(2), can stimulate progesterone secretion by both follicular cell types and suggest a positive feedback relationship between P4/PGR and the PGs. Additional results suggest a positive feedback loop between P4/PGR and OT. The finding that levels of mRNA for several ADAMTS proteases are regulated by the LH/FSH surge in vivo and by P4/PGR and/or PGs in vitro suggests a role for this family of proteases in remodeling the bovine ovulatory follicle in preparation for ovulation and the formation of the corpus luteum. It is important to remember that a process essential for reproduction, such as ovulation, may involve redundant mechanisms and that these mechanisms may have evolved differently from rodents in larger mammalian species, such as ruminants and humans.

RESUMEN

Ovulation has long been recognized as one of the most dramatic reproductive processes. Decades of research on how the LH/FSH surge leads to ovulation have made it clear that the surge induces a very complex cascade of changes. Studies of genetically modified mice have pointed to progesterone (P4) and its receptor (PGR) and the prostaglandins (PGs) as critical components of the ovulatory cascade. In cattle, the gonadotropin surge also induces oxytocin (OT), which does not appear to increase in rodent periovulatory follicles. This review is an attempt to summarize studies by our laboratory on the temporal patterns, roles, regulation, and interrelationships among P4/PGR, PGs, and OT in bovine periovulatory follicles. Most of these results are based on an experimental model in which the dominant follicle of the first follicular wave of the estrous cycle is induced to develop into a preovulatory follicle by injection of PGF2α on Day 6 of the cycle, followed 36 h later by an injection of GnRH to induce the LH/FSH surge. The results suggest that the effects of the gonadotropin surge on PG production by bovine granulosa cells are mediated by the gonadotropininduced increase in intrafollicular P4 and that P4 acts by binding to its nuclear receptor and increasing the abundance of mRNA for the enzyme PTGS2 (COX-2). Our data thus far also support the hypothesis that PGs, especially PGE2, can stimulate progesterone secretion by both follicular cell types and suggest a positive feedback relationship between P4/PGR and the PGs. Additional results suggest a positive feedback loop between P4/PGR and OT. The finding that levels of mRNA for several ADAMTS proteases are regulated by the LH/FSH surge in vivo and by P4/PGR and/or PGs in vitro suggests a role for this family of proteases in remodeling the bovine ovulatory follicle in preparation for ovulation and the formation of the corpus luteum. It is important to remember that a process essential for reproduction, such as ovulation, may involve redundant mechanisms and that these mechanisms may have evolved differently from rodents in larger mammalian species, such as ruminants and humans.

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RESUMEN

Ovulation has long been recognized as one of the most dramatic reproductive processes. Decades of research on how the LH/FSH surge leads to ovulation have made it clear that the surge induces a very complex cascade of changes. Studies of genetically modified mice have pointed to progesterone (P4) and its receptor (PGR) and the prostaglandins (PGs) as critical components of the ovulatory cascade. In cattle, the gonadotropin surge also induces oxytocin (OT), which does not appear to increase in rodent periovulatory follicles. This review is an attempt to summarize studies by our laboratory on the temporal patterns, roles, regulation, and interrelationships among P4/PGR, PGs, and OT in bovine periovulatory follicles. Most of these results are based on an experimental model in which the dominant follicle of the first follicular wave of the estrous cycle is induced to develop into a preovulatory follicle by injection of PGF2α on Day 6 of the cycle, followed 36 h later by an injection of GnRH to induce the LH/FSH surge. The results suggest that the effects of the gonadotropin surge on PG production by bovine granulosa cells are mediated by the gonadotropininduced increase in intrafollicular P4 and that P4 acts by binding to its nuclear receptor and increasing the abundance of mRNA for the enzyme PTGS2 (COX-2). Our data thus far also support the hypothesis that PGs, especially PGE2, can stimulate progesterone secretion by both follicular cell types and suggest a positive feedback relationship between P4/PGR and the PGs. Additional results suggest a positive feedback loop between P4/PGR and OT. The finding that levels of mRNA for several ADAMTS proteases are regulated by the LH/FSH surge in vivo and by P4/PGR and/or PGs in vitro suggests a role for this family of proteases in remodeling the bovine ovulatory follicle in preparation for ovulation and the formation of the corpus luteum. It is important to remember that a process essential for reproduction, such as ovulation, may involve redundant mechanisms and that these mechanisms may have evolved differently from rodents in larger mammalian species, such as ruminants and humans.(AU)

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La investigacion de una epidemia de fiebre tifoidea en Dominica indico que en la gran mayoria de los casos la enfermedad se habia propagado por medio de personas que manejaban alimentos contaminados. Este y otros hallazgos demuestran la necesidad de una mejor higiene, de examenes periodicos de las personas que manipulan alimentos para detectar la presencia de Salmonella typhi, y de establecer un registro especial que contenga informacion sobre todos los casos conocidos de fiebre tifoidea

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