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Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats
BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by hyperandrogenism, anovulation, and polycystic ovaries. Electroacupuncture (EA) can effectively improve hyperandrogenism and increase ovulation frequency in patients with PCOS. Pieces of suggest that androgen activity in the brain is as...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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BioMed Central
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9844031/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36650561 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13048-022-01078-x |
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author | Xu, Ge Zhao, Xuedan Li, Zhihao Hu, Junwei Li, Xu Li, Juanjuan Chen, Yuelai |
author_facet | Xu, Ge Zhao, Xuedan Li, Zhihao Hu, Junwei Li, Xu Li, Juanjuan Chen, Yuelai |
author_sort | Xu, Ge |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by hyperandrogenism, anovulation, and polycystic ovaries. Electroacupuncture (EA) can effectively improve hyperandrogenism and increase ovulation frequency in patients with PCOS. Pieces of suggest that androgen activity in the brain is associated with impaired steroid negative feedback in such patients. Studies have shown that EA regulated androgen receptor (AR) expression and local factor levels (such as anti-Müllerian hormone and inhibin B) in the ovary of PCOS rats. However, few studies have explored the effect of EA on androgen activity in the brain. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of EA on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)/luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit and sex hormone receptor expression in the hypothalamus of PCOS rats. METHODS: PCOS signs were induced by letrozole administration, and the induced rats were treated with low-frequency EA at Guan Yuan acupoint (CV4). The effect of EA on PCOS-like signs was evaluated by observing changes in the body weight, ovarian quality, ovarian morphology, and serum sex hormone levels in rats. To explore the mechanism of the effect of EA on PCOS-like signs, the neuropeptide content of the kisspeptin-GnRH/LH neural circuit was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA); AR and estrogen receptor α (ERα) coexpression on kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin (KNDy) neurons was determined via triple-label immunofluorescence; and protein and mRNA expression of Kiss1, Ar, Esr1, and kisspeptin receptor (Kiss1r) was evaluated via western blotting and Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: The results revealed that the estrous cycle of rats in the EA treatment group recovered, and their body and ovary weight reduced; ovarian morphology improved; serum testosterone and LH levels significantly decreased; and kisspeptin, GnRH, and dynorphin levels in hypothalamic arcuate nucleus significantly decreased. Compared with controls, the number of AR/Kiss1-positive cells increased, number of ERα/Kiss1-positive cells decreased, and protein and mRNA expression of Kiss1, Ar, and Kiss1r significantly increased in PCOS rats. However, EA treatment reversed these changes and reduced the expression of Kiss1, Ar, and Kiss1r significantly. CONCLUSION: Improvement in the reproductive hallmarks of PCOS rats via EA may be achieved by regulating the kisspeptin-GnRH/LH circuit via androgen activity attenuation. Thus, the results provide an experimental basis for acupuncture as an adjuvant medical therapy on PCOS. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9844031 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-98440312023-01-18 Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats Xu, Ge Zhao, Xuedan Li, Zhihao Hu, Junwei Li, Xu Li, Juanjuan Chen, Yuelai J Ovarian Res Research BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by hyperandrogenism, anovulation, and polycystic ovaries. Electroacupuncture (EA) can effectively improve hyperandrogenism and increase ovulation frequency in patients with PCOS. Pieces of suggest that androgen activity in the brain is associated with impaired steroid negative feedback in such patients. Studies have shown that EA regulated androgen receptor (AR) expression and local factor levels (such as anti-Müllerian hormone and inhibin B) in the ovary of PCOS rats. However, few studies have explored the effect of EA on androgen activity in the brain. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of EA on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)/luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit and sex hormone receptor expression in the hypothalamus of PCOS rats. METHODS: PCOS signs were induced by letrozole administration, and the induced rats were treated with low-frequency EA at Guan Yuan acupoint (CV4). The effect of EA on PCOS-like signs was evaluated by observing changes in the body weight, ovarian quality, ovarian morphology, and serum sex hormone levels in rats. To explore the mechanism of the effect of EA on PCOS-like signs, the neuropeptide content of the kisspeptin-GnRH/LH neural circuit was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA); AR and estrogen receptor α (ERα) coexpression on kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin (KNDy) neurons was determined via triple-label immunofluorescence; and protein and mRNA expression of Kiss1, Ar, Esr1, and kisspeptin receptor (Kiss1r) was evaluated via western blotting and Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: The results revealed that the estrous cycle of rats in the EA treatment group recovered, and their body and ovary weight reduced; ovarian morphology improved; serum testosterone and LH levels significantly decreased; and kisspeptin, GnRH, and dynorphin levels in hypothalamic arcuate nucleus significantly decreased. Compared with controls, the number of AR/Kiss1-positive cells increased, number of ERα/Kiss1-positive cells decreased, and protein and mRNA expression of Kiss1, Ar, and Kiss1r significantly increased in PCOS rats. However, EA treatment reversed these changes and reduced the expression of Kiss1, Ar, and Kiss1r significantly. CONCLUSION: Improvement in the reproductive hallmarks of PCOS rats via EA may be achieved by regulating the kisspeptin-GnRH/LH circuit via androgen activity attenuation. Thus, the results provide an experimental basis for acupuncture as an adjuvant medical therapy on PCOS. BioMed Central 2023-01-17 /pmc/articles/PMC9844031/ /pubmed/36650561 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13048-022-01078-x Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
spellingShingle | Research Xu, Ge Zhao, Xuedan Li, Zhihao Hu, Junwei Li, Xu Li, Juanjuan Chen, Yuelai Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats |
title | Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats |
title_full | Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats |
title_fullStr | Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats |
title_full_unstemmed | Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats |
title_short | Effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) /luteinizing hormone (LH) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin neurons in PCOS rats |
title_sort | effects of electroacupuncture on the kisspeptin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (gnrh) /luteinizing hormone (lh) neural circuit abnormalities and androgen receptor expression of kisspeptin/neurokinin b/dynorphin neurons in pcos rats |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9844031/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36650561 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13048-022-01078-x |
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