Human Reproduction, Vol 12, 107-111, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
SG Hillier, M Tetsuka and HM Fraser
Locally produced androgens act via granulosa cell androgen receptors to
modulate follicular responsiveness to gonadotrophins and thereby contribute
to the paracrine regulation of ovarian function. We used quantitative
androgen receptor immunocytochemistry to assess androgen receptor
distribution in relation to pre-ovulatory follicular development in the
common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a New World primate that ovulates two
to four follicles in each approximately 28 day ovarian cycle. Ovaries from
four adult females in the late follicular phase and from four in the luteal
phase were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde and subjected to an
immunocytochemical analysis using a polyclonal androgen receptor antibody
with detection by a standard avidin-biotin-peroxidase technique for
alkaline phosphatase. Specific androgen receptor immunostaining occurred
mainly in granulosa cell nuclei, with little or no specific staining in
theca, stroma or oocytes. Granulosa cell androgen receptor immunostaining
was most abundant in healthy preantral/early antral follicles, being low or
absent from pre-ovulatory follicles and corpora lutea. Differences in
granulosa cell androgen receptor immunostaining between immature (0.1- 1.0
mm diameter) and pre-ovulatory (> or = 2.0 mm diameter) follicles were
quantified using a videodensitometric analysis of grey-scale values.
Readings were taken from the granulosa cell layers of 53 immature follicles
and 10 pre-ovulatory follicles in late follicular phase ovaries. The
average androgen receptor level in granulosa cells of immature follicles
proved to be 4.2-fold higher (P < 0.01) than that in granulosa cells of
pre-ovulatory follicles. Because other evidence suggests that paracrine
androgen action in granulosa cells converts from stimulation to inhibition
as follicles mature, we speculate that a development-related reduction in
androgen receptor numbers serves to "protect' granulosa cells against the
inhibitory action of androgen, thereby promoting pre-ovulatory follicular
dominance in primate ovarian cycles.
ARTICLES
Location and developmental regulation of androgen receptor in primate ovary
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Edinburgh Centre for Reproductive Biology, UK.
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