Disease relevance of Follicular Fluid

• Recently, we identified a human follicular fluid protein(s) (FP) which inhibited human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG)-induced rat ovarian weight gain and FSH-induced aromatase [1].
• Effect of follicular fluid treatment on follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and compensatory ovarian hypertrophy in prepuberal gilts [2].
• Ovarian modulators of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta HSD) activity in follicular fluid from bovine and porcine large antral follicles and spontaneous ovarian cysts [3].
• IGF binding protein (BP) activity was affected by diabetes mellitus, with untreated diabetic pigs having greater IGFBP-1 activity in medium and with both diabetic groups having greater IGFBP-2 activity in follicular fluid (p < 0.05) [4].
• Concentrations of prostaglandin F2alpha in follicular fluid from women with endometriosis [5].

High impact information on Follicular Fluid

• Plasminogen, plasminogen activator, protease inhibitors, and a proteolytic activity are shown to be present in bovine follicular fluid [6].
• Follistatin was first described in 1987 as a follicle-stimulating hormone inhibiting substance present in ovarian follicular fluid [7].
• Upon exposure of human spermatozoa to autologous serum or follicular fluid, we unexpectedly observed that acrosome-reacted spermatozoa activated the complement cascade efficiently through C3 but not beyond [8].
• Such fluids whose volume or composition might be regulated by guanylyl cyclase receptors include synovial fluid, uterine/oviductal luminal fluid, follicular fluid, aqueous humor, cerebral spinal fluid, seminiferous tubule luminal fluid, epididymal luminal fluid, seminal plasma, and airway luminal fluid [9].
• Rat follicular fluid contained only tPA, and mouse follicular fluid only uPA, indicating that in vivo, granulosa cells from the two species are secreting different enzymes [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Follicular Fluid

• To determine whether the post-hemicastration rise in serum FSH is related to compensatory testicular hypertrophy, 4-mo-old ram lambs were hemicastrated and injected s.c. with 5 ml of saline (HC; n = 5) or steroid-free follicular fluid (HC + FF; n = 5) twice daily for 28 days [11].
• Early proestrus was characterized by a gradual rise in serum estrogen levels, hyperplasia of the granulosa cells, the accumulation of follicular fluid, and the development of tortuous intercellular channels [12].
• Zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction in human sperm: dependency on activation of pertussis toxin-sensitive G(i) protein and extracellular calcium, and priming effect of progesterone and follicular fluid [13].
• BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of Follicular-Fluid Meiosis Activating Sterol (FF-MAS) when added to the culture media on the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities and pre-embryo development in human pre-embryos [14].
• SETTING: Infertility Research Center, Jeil Women's Hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Human semen obtained from fertile donors was prepared by one of the following methods: washing only (washed control); Percoll gradient; pentoxifylline; human follicular fluid (FF); pentoxifylline + FF; or platelet-activating factor (PAF) treatment [15].

Biological context of Follicular Fluid

• However, the presence of LH during ovulation induction with FSH does appear to alter thecal androgen metabolism, resulting in higher testosterone and lower androstenedione levels in follicular fluid [16].
• Although intrafollicular and serum concentrations of each hormone followed the same general pattern as follicles develop, the human follicular fluid/serum gradients changed during the follicular phase and were different for estradiol and inhibin A, suggesting the presence of stage-specific differences in pharmacodynamics [17].
• As an additional control, follicular fluid was collected from 90 follicles of normal women throughout the menstrual cycle, and follicular size was determined as well as inhibin-F and steroid content [18].
• Follistatin is a binding protein for activin and inhibin produced by granulosa cells and present in follicular fluid [19].
• Ovum pick-up, in vitro fertilization, and primary embryonic development were achieved despite undetectable plasma estradiol and extremely low ovarian androgen concentrations and minute concentrations of these hormones in the ovarian follicular fluid [20].

Anatomical context of Follicular Fluid

• Progesterone has been found in human follicular fluid at levels capable of stimulating increases in [Ca2+]i. The similarities in responses induced by human follicular fluid and progesterone an increase in [Ca2+]i, and hence the acrosome reaction, is progesterone and/or 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone [21].
• We measured the mitotic activity of granulosa cells, sex steroid concentrations in follicular fluids, and the maturity and fertilizability of oocytes from 49 follicles [22].
• We first reported the unique presence of one neurotrophin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), in the follicular fluid of the human ovarian follicle [23].
• Increasing volumes of conditioned medium from these cultured cells generated response curves parallel to those of recombinant human follistatin 288 reference protein, human follicular fluid, or culture medium from human granulosa-luteal cells [24].
• To evaluate the role of nonsteroidal, follicular fluid proteins in folliculogenesis, the 10-55% saturated ammonium sulfate fraction of pooled human follicular fluid was dialyzed against 0.025 M Tris/HCl (pH 7.5) using 10,000 molecular weight exclusion membranes, then passed through agarose immobilized textile dye [25].

Associations of Follicular Fluid with chemical compounds

• The isolation and characterization of estradiol-fatty acid esters in human ovarian follicular fluid. Identification of an endogenous long-lived and potent family of estrogens [26].
• Follicular fluid proteoglycans consist of about 20% protein, 50% dermatan sulfate, and 20% oligosaccharides rich in sialic acid, galactose, mannose, glucosamine, and galactosamine [27].
• The follicular fluid proteoglycans, unlike those from cartilage, do not interact with hyaluronic acid [27].
• Follipsin purified from the follicular fluid of porcine ovaries was studied for its specificity against various synthetic and peptide substrates.The enzyme cleaved only by an endopeptidase activity at the amide and peptide bonds of Arg-X, indicating strict specificity of the S1 pocket for arginine [28].
• This oligosaccharide accounts for approximately 77% of all the sialic acid in the follicular fluid proteoglycans [27].

Gene context of Follicular Fluid

• We have examined, by Western ligand blot analysis, the IGFBP profiles in follicular fluid (FF) from patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (a disorder of ovarian folliculogenesis), compared to FF from atretic and developing (estrogenic) follicles from normally cycling women [29].
• Identification of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and IGFBP-2 in human follicular fluid [30].
• Two major insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins, IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3, were identified by Western ligand blotting of human follicular fluid (FF) aspirated from luteinizing follicles during ovarian stimulation with human menopausal gonadotropin (LH and FSH) [30].
• In follicular fluid, but not in plasma, the levels of ET-1-like immunoreactivity were higher in gonadotropin-stimulated vs. spontaneous cycles, suggesting hormonal regulation of follicular ET-1 [31].
• This study demonstrates for the first time that NT-4/5 and NT-3 are present in the follicular fluid of the human ovary [23].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Follicular Fluid

• Gel permeation chromatography indicated that all of the detectable activin A in human follicular fluid, pregnancy serum, and term placental extract eluted with an apparent molecular mass between 70-200 kDa, indicating that little, if any, free activin (molecular mass, 25 kDa) is present in these samples [32].
• The concentration of soluble c-kit in follicular fluid measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed significant correlation with fluid volume and follicular fluid concentrations of estradiol, testosterone, and androstenedione [33].
• Western blotting with the PIN-1 antibody confirmed the presence of immunoreactive proteins of 57,000 and 29,000 mol wt in the follicular fluids of both normal cycle and IVF follicles [34].
• In a previous study (see Ref.7), the molecular weight distribution of inhibin activity in fractionated human follicular fluid (hFF) and human male and female plasma/serum was determined by in vitro bioassay using ovine pituitary cells in culture and various specific inhibin A and inhibin alpha-subunit-directed immunoassays [35].
• The progesterone concentration and the progesterone to estradiol ratio in follicular fluids were inversely correlated to mitotic index (r = -0.506; P less than 0.001, and r = -0.320; P less than 0.02, respectively) [22].

References