Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Previous reports in different species have shown that various endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can modulate ovarian steroidogenesis with the majority of studies focussing on granulosa cells. To test the hypothesis that exposure to EDCs might also perturb thecal steroidogenesis we conducted in vitro dose–response experiments to evaluate the direct effects of selected EDCs on androstenedione and progesterone production by cultured bovine theca ce...

Introduction: Cyclic ovarian function involves continual tissue remodelling. During ovulation macrophages invade the ovary and secret pro-inflammatory cytokines such us TNF- and IL6 that have local actions on ovarian cells. Here we investigated i) the effect of macrophages on secretion of oestradiol by granulosa cells (TC) and androstenedione by theca cells (TC) and ii) the effect of macrophages on TC and stroma cell (SC) migration was also assessed using an in vitro ...

Introduction: Kisspeptin, a neuropeptide secreted in the hypothalamus and encoded by the Kiss-1 gene, has a role in promoting the release of GnRH and LH in various species. However, the possibility that kisspeptin exerts additional ‘peripheral’ actions at the level of the bovine gonad has not been investigated. The current aims were to investigate whether: i) kiss-1 and its receptor (GPR54) are expressed in the bovine ovary; ii) kisspeptin or kisspeptin antagonist ca...