RESUMO
PURPOSE: Little is known about the role of the superior ovarian nerve (SON) in follicular development during the estrus cycle. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of neural signals arriving through the SON at the ovaries in the regulation of follicular development and ovarian steroid secretion in diestrus 1 of cyclic rats. METHODS: Cyclic rats were subjected to left, right, or bilateral SON sectioning or to unilateral or bilateral laparotomy at diestrus 1 at 11:00 h. Animals were sacrificed 24 h after surgery. RESULTS: Compared to laparotomized animals, unilateral SON sectioning decreased the number of preovulatory follicles, while bilateral SON sectioning resulted in a decreased number of atretic preantral follicles. An important observation was the presence of invaginations in the follicular wall of large antral and preovulatory follicles in animals with denervation. Furthermore, left SON sectioning increased progesterone levels but decreased testosterone levels, which are effects that were not observed in animals that were subjected to right denervation. CONCLUSIONS: At 11:00 h of diestrus 1, the SON was found to stimulate follicle development, possibly via neural signals, such as noradrenaline and/or vasoactive intestinal peptide, and this stimulation induced the formation of follicle-stimulating hormone receptors. The role of the SON in the regulation of ovarian steroid secretion is asymmetric: the left SON inhibits the regulation of progesterone and stimulates testosterone secretion, and the right nerve does not participate in these processes.
Assuntos
Diestro/fisiologia , Estro/fisiologia , Folículo Ovariano/fisiologia , Ovário/inervação , Animais , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Feminino , Hormônio Foliculoestimulante/farmacologia , Humanos , Laparotomia , Hormônio Luteinizante/farmacologia , Tecido Nervoso/patologia , Tecido Nervoso/cirurgia , Folículo Ovariano/inervação , Folículo Ovariano/cirurgia , Ovário/fisiologia , Ovário/cirurgia , Ovulação/fisiologia , Ratos , Testosterona/farmacologiaRESUMO
Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an important cause of abnormal estrous behavior and infertility in dairy cows. COD is mainly observed in high-yielding dairy cows during the first months post-partum, a period of high stress. We have previously reported that, in lower mammals, stress induces a cystic condition similar to the polycystic ovary syndrome in humans and that stress is a definitive component in the human pathology. To know if COD in cows is also associated with high sympathetic activity, we studied isolated small antral (5 mm), preovulatory (10 mm) and cystic follicles (25 mm). Cystic follicles which present an area 600 fold greater compared with preovulatory follicles has only 10 times less concentration of NE as compared with small antral and preovulatory follicles but they had 10 times more NE in follicular fluid, suggesting a high efflux of neurotransmitter from the cyst wall. This suggestion was reinforced by the high basal release of recently taken-up 3H-NE found in cystic follicles. While lower levels of beta-adrenergic receptor were found in cystic follicles, there was a heightened response to the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol and to hCG, as measured by testosterone secretion. There was however an unexpected capacity of the ovary in vitro to produce cortisol and to secrete it in response to hCG but not to isoproterenol. These data suggest that, during COD, the bovine ovary is under high sympathetic nerve activity that in addition to an increased response to hCG in cortisol secretion could participate in COD development.
Assuntos
Agonistas Adrenérgicos beta/farmacologia , Doenças dos Bovinos/patologia , Hormônios Esteroides Gonadais/metabolismo , Cistos Ovarianos/patologia , Folículo Ovariano/efeitos dos fármacos , Sistema Nervoso Simpático/fisiologia , Agonistas Adrenérgicos beta/administração & dosagem , Animais , Bovinos , Doenças dos Bovinos/sangue , Doenças dos Bovinos/metabolismo , Doenças dos Bovinos/fisiopatologia , Separação Celular , Estradiol/sangue , Feminino , Fase Folicular/genética , Fase Folicular/fisiologia , Humanos , Norepinefrina/sangue , Norepinefrina/metabolismo , Cistos Ovarianos/sangue , Cistos Ovarianos/metabolismo , Cistos Ovarianos/fisiopatologia , Folículo Ovariano/inervação , Folículo Ovariano/patologia , Folículo Ovariano/fisiologia , Ovário/efeitos dos fármacos , Ovário/inervação , Ovário/metabolismo , Ovário/patologia , Progesterona/sangue , Sistema Nervoso Simpático/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
This article presents a review of the role of the sympathetic activity in ovarian pathologies affecting reproductive function. We provide a succinct outline of the findings of our group in this area. The participation of stress as an etiological factor for ovarian pathologies throughout animal models and data in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome give strong support for participation of sympathetic nerves in the ovary function both in normal and pathological status.