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The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats
BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common reproductive disorders in women. Previous studies have shown that prenatal exposure of female fetuses to androgen can be considered an important factor in the development of PCOS. OBJECTIVES: In the present study we aimed to exam...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Kowsar
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030220/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24910644 http://dx.doi.org/10.5812/ijem.16502 |
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author | Ramezani Tehrani, Fahimeh Noroozzadeh, Mahsa Zahediasl, Saleh Piryaei, Abbas Hashemi, Somayeh Azizi, Fereidoun |
author_facet | Ramezani Tehrani, Fahimeh Noroozzadeh, Mahsa Zahediasl, Saleh Piryaei, Abbas Hashemi, Somayeh Azizi, Fereidoun |
author_sort | Ramezani Tehrani, Fahimeh |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common reproductive disorders in women. Previous studies have shown that prenatal exposure of female fetuses to androgen can be considered an important factor in the development of PCOS. OBJECTIVES: In the present study we aimed to examine the effects of prenatal exposure of female rat fetuses to previously documented doses of testosterone on different embryonic days on the development of PCOS phenotype in adulthood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant rats were divided into four groups, experimental and control groups. Three mg of free testosterone was administered subcutaneously to experimental group 1 on gestational days 16-19, daily and 20 mg on day 20, to experimental group 2, and the controls received solvent at the same times. Female offspring of these mothers aged between 90-100 days were examined for development and function of the reproductive system. Independent-sample student t test was used to compare the results between the experimental groups and controls. RESULTS: Anogenital distance (P < 0.001) and clitoris length were significantly increased in the offspring of both experimental groups (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05 respectively). Nipples were not formed in the offspring of experimental group 1, whereas in experimental group 2 the number of nipples was unchanged. Vaginal length was significantly decreased in the offspring of experimental group 1 (P < 0.001), whereas in experimental group 2, no significant difference was observed. In the offspring of experimental group 1, hormonal profiles did not differ, but in experimental group 2, levels of testosterone (P < 0.05) and LH (P < 0.01) were significantly increased, but estrogen (P < 0.05) and anti-Mullerian hormone levels (P < 0.001) were significantly decreased. A significant increase in the number of preantral and antral follicles was observed in the ovaries of offspring of experimental group 1 (P < 0.05); whereas there was no such a difference in experimental group 2. CONCLUSIONS: The time of prenatal exposure to androgens may have a significant role in the development of PCOS. Increased prenatal androgen levels are associated with hormonal changes and morphological disorders of the reproductive system. Therefore, avoiding exposure to androgen excess during critical periods of fetal development may prevent or reduce adulthood PCOS manifestations caused by prenatal excess androgen. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4030220 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Kowsar |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-40302202014-06-06 The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats Ramezani Tehrani, Fahimeh Noroozzadeh, Mahsa Zahediasl, Saleh Piryaei, Abbas Hashemi, Somayeh Azizi, Fereidoun Int J Endocrinol Metab Research Article BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common reproductive disorders in women. Previous studies have shown that prenatal exposure of female fetuses to androgen can be considered an important factor in the development of PCOS. OBJECTIVES: In the present study we aimed to examine the effects of prenatal exposure of female rat fetuses to previously documented doses of testosterone on different embryonic days on the development of PCOS phenotype in adulthood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant rats were divided into four groups, experimental and control groups. Three mg of free testosterone was administered subcutaneously to experimental group 1 on gestational days 16-19, daily and 20 mg on day 20, to experimental group 2, and the controls received solvent at the same times. Female offspring of these mothers aged between 90-100 days were examined for development and function of the reproductive system. Independent-sample student t test was used to compare the results between the experimental groups and controls. RESULTS: Anogenital distance (P < 0.001) and clitoris length were significantly increased in the offspring of both experimental groups (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05 respectively). Nipples were not formed in the offspring of experimental group 1, whereas in experimental group 2 the number of nipples was unchanged. Vaginal length was significantly decreased in the offspring of experimental group 1 (P < 0.001), whereas in experimental group 2, no significant difference was observed. In the offspring of experimental group 1, hormonal profiles did not differ, but in experimental group 2, levels of testosterone (P < 0.05) and LH (P < 0.01) were significantly increased, but estrogen (P < 0.05) and anti-Mullerian hormone levels (P < 0.001) were significantly decreased. A significant increase in the number of preantral and antral follicles was observed in the ovaries of offspring of experimental group 1 (P < 0.05); whereas there was no such a difference in experimental group 2. CONCLUSIONS: The time of prenatal exposure to androgens may have a significant role in the development of PCOS. Increased prenatal androgen levels are associated with hormonal changes and morphological disorders of the reproductive system. Therefore, avoiding exposure to androgen excess during critical periods of fetal development may prevent or reduce adulthood PCOS manifestations caused by prenatal excess androgen. Kowsar 2014-04-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4030220/ /pubmed/24910644 http://dx.doi.org/10.5812/ijem.16502 Text en Copyright © 2014, Research Institute For Endocrine Sciences and Iran Endocrine Society; Published by Kowsar Corp. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Ramezani Tehrani, Fahimeh Noroozzadeh, Mahsa Zahediasl, Saleh Piryaei, Abbas Hashemi, Somayeh Azizi, Fereidoun The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats |
title | The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats |
title_full | The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats |
title_fullStr | The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats |
title_full_unstemmed | The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats |
title_short | The Time of Prenatal Androgen Exposure Affects Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Adulthood in Female Rats |
title_sort | time of prenatal androgen exposure affects development of polycystic ovary syndrome-like phenotype in adulthood in female rats |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030220/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24910644 http://dx.doi.org/10.5812/ijem.16502 |
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