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1 April 2009 Developmental Programming: Contribution of Prenatal Androgen and Estrogen to Estradiol Feedback Systems and Periovulatory Hormonal Dynamics in Sheep
Almudena Veiga-Lopez, Olga I. Astapova, Esther F. Aizenberg, James S. Lee, Vasantha Padmanabhan
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Abstract

Prenatal testosterone excess leads to neuroendocrine and periovulatory disruptions in the offspring culminating in progressive loss of cyclicity. It is unknown whether the mediary of these disruptions is androgen or estrogen, because testosterone can be aromatized to estrogen. Taking a reproductive life span approach of studying control, prenatal testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone-treated offspring, this study tested the hypothesis that disruptions in estradiol-negative but not -positive feedback effects are programmed by androgenic actions of testosterone and that these disruptions in turn will have an impact on the periovulatory hormonal dynamics. The approach was to test estradiol-negative and -positive feedback responses of all three groups of ovary-intact females during prepubertal age and then compare the periovulatory dynamics of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, estradiol, and progesterone during the first breeding season. The findings show that estradiol-negative but not estradiol-positive feedback disruptions in prenatal testosterone-treated females are programmed by androgenic actions of prenatal testosterone excess and that follicular phase estradiol and gonadotropins surge disruptions during reproductive life are consistent with estrogenic programming. Additional studies carried out testing estradiol-positive feedback response over time found progressive deterioration of estradiol-positive feedback in prenatal testosterone-treated sheep until the time of puberty. Together, these findings provide insight into the mechanisms by which prenatal testosterone disrupts the reproductive axis. The findings may be of translational relevance since daughters of mothers with hyperandrogenism are at risk of increased exposure to androgens.

Almudena Veiga-Lopez, Olga I. Astapova, Esther F. Aizenberg, James S. Lee, and Vasantha Padmanabhan "Developmental Programming: Contribution of Prenatal Androgen and Estrogen to Estradiol Feedback Systems and Periovulatory Hormonal Dynamics in Sheep," Biology of Reproduction 80(4), 718-725, (1 April 2009). https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.108.074781
Received: 12 November 2008; Accepted: 1 December 2008; Published: 1 April 2009
KEYWORDS
Androgens
infertility
neuroendocrinology
ovulation
reproduction
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