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Testing for Reproductive Hazards from Dermal Exposure
Published in Francis N. Marzulli, Howard I. Maibach, Dermatotoxicology Methods: The Laboratory Worker’s Vade Mecum, 2019
Estrous cycle length and normality should be evaluated by vaginal smears for all parental rat females during a minimum of 3 weeks prior to mating and throughout cohabitation. (ICH variation: Vaginal smears should be done at least during mating.) Care should be taken to prevent the induction of pseudopregnancy.
Conditions
Published in Sarah Bekaert, Women's Health, 2018
Hormonal treatment aims to stop ovulation and allow the endometrial deposits to regress and die. The treatment puts the woman into a pseudo-pregnancy or pseudo-menopause. These hormonal drugs include testosterone derivatives, progestogens, GnRH analogues, the combined oral contraceptive pill, the Mirena coil and Depo-Provera. All of the drugs except the oral contraceptive pill and the Mirena coil have been shown in clinical trials to be equally effective as treatments for endometriosis.
Prolactin
Published in Paul V. Malven, Mammalian Neuroendocrinology, 2019
Neuroendocrine events in the reproductive cycle of female rats are highly circadian. For example, discharges of adenohypophysial hormones (notably LH and PRL) occur only at specific times of the day. As will be discussed later in Chapter 12, the preovulatory surge of LH release can only occur in the late afternoon hours. Ovulation and formation of new corpora lutea occur during the nocturnal hours between the days designated, based on vaginal cytology, as proestrus and estrus of the 4–5 day estrous cycle of unmated female rats. The female is sexually receptive during this same nocturnal period. When copulation occurs during this period of female receptivity, the newly formed corpora lutea are activated to secrete more progesterone and to have a functional life span of approximately 12 days during which proestrus/estrus changes are blocked. This period of mating-induced diestrus is called pseudopregnancy. Although pseudopregnancy does not depend on conception, in cases of fertile matings it allows development of the fetoplacental unit to the point where it can provide luteotrophic support of the corpora lutea for maintenance of pregnancy to term at 22 days. As discussed earlier in this chapter, PRL exerts an important luteotrophic function in the rat. In fact, it is the only hormone required for functional maintenance of rat corpora lutea during the early part of pseudopregnancy (Smith et al., 1975). The secretory profiles of adenohypophysial PRL in non-mated and mated female rats are illustrated in Figure 9-2. Non-mated females have a surge of PRL release during the afternoon of proestrus approximately coincident with the preovulatory surge of LH release denoted in Figure 9-2. However, it is possible with experimental means to dissociate the PRL and LH surges on the afternoon of proestrus (Alexander et al., 1989).
Advances in targeting estrogen synthesis and receptors in patients with endometriosis
Published in Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 2022
Sara Clemenza, Silvia Vannuccini, Agostino Ruotolo, Tommaso Capezzuoli, Felice Petraglia
As suggested by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Practice Committee ‘endometriosis should be viewed as a chronic disease that requires a lifelong management plan with the goal of maximizing the use of medical treatment and avoiding repeated surgical procedures’ [120]. Medical treatment can be both non-hormonal (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]) and hormonal. Currently, hormonal therapies are the most effective drugs for endometriosis treatment. First-line hormonal therapies include progestins, while GnRH-a, GnRH antagonists and AIs are considered second-line therapies [10]. The reduction of endometriosis hyperestrogenic milieu represents the most investigated target of available and emerging treatments [27]. The main mechanism of action of current therapies is the suppression of estrogen production through a central (GnRH-a and GnRH antagonists) or peripheral activity (AIs), thereby creating a state of iatrogenic menopause or pseudopregnancy [52]. In addition to the hypoestrogenic side effects that limit the duration of the therapy, these medications do not cure definitively the disease and do not improve spontaneous fertility of endometriosis patients [95]. Because of the debilitating effects on QoL and the large social and economic burden that endometriosis inflicts on women, the search for new therapies without long-term complications, for example on BMD, is ongoing [96]. Improvement of our understanding on hormonal imbalance in endometriosis and its effect on disease progression will allow to develop new compounds [27].
Surrogacy relationships: a critical interpretative review
Published in Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 2020
Jenny Gunnarsson Payne, Elzbieta Korolczuk, Signe Mezinska
In some cases, relationships between surrogate and intended parents were very close; especially intended mothers were very engaged throughout the pregnancy—coming to pregnancy appointments, birth classes, and delivery, often ‘managing the pregnancy’ by being in charge of medical aspects. In these relationships, both surrogates and intended mothers would engage in emotional work to define the pregnant belly as an extension of the intended mother. Surrogates would often ‘transfer’ pregnancy symptoms to intended mothers by reporting on them (e.g. phoning when feeling nausea). Some intended mothers reported a ‘pseudopregnancy’ or (psycho)somatic symptoms such as gaining weight or the secretion of colostrum or feeling contractions when the surrogate went into labour (1,42). While surrogates are continuously reported to use strategies or mental frames to separate the pregnancy and foetus from themselves (e.g. to prevent bonding or to communicate never having felt a bond), there are examples of intended parents (mainly mothers) who wear a ‘dummy belly’ or record their voice for the surrogate to play to the foetus in order to aid the bonding process (23). In some cases, physical proximity and frequent contact were used as a means to control the surrogate (diet, exercise, etc.), especially in cases where she was living together with the intended parents or in-laws (25,42).
The development of a silicone vaginal ring with a prostaglandin analogue for potential use in the treatment of canine reproductive disorders
Published in Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, 2019
Veronika Nováková Tkadlečková, Jakub Vysloužil, Kateřina Kubová, Jan Elbl, Darja Bučková, Jan Muselík, David Vetchý, Robert Novotný, Pavel Proks, Josef Jančář, Petr Poláček
To our knowledge within veterinary medicine, the VR technology has not yet been used. However, there are some diseases or statuses of the reproductive system of female dogs which could be a suitable possibility for their usage, such as pyometra (Fieni et al. 2014), interruption of pregnancy (Hoffmann and Schuler 2000), pseudopregnancy (Arbeiter et al. 1988; Gobello et al. 2001), induction and synchronisation of oestrus (Kutzler 2007) or lactation cessation (Bastan et al. 1998). Drug intervention for these conditions includes an administration of prostaglandins (prostaglandin F2α) (Nelson et al. 1982; Gilbert et al. 1989; Arnold et al. 2006), dopamine agonists (bromocryptine, cabergoline), gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists and gonadotropins (Kutzler 2005) for extended time periods. These drugs are usually administered parenterally in repeated doses, although dopamine agonists are also administered orally (Zöldág et al. 2001). Unfortunately, systemic administration of many of these substances is associated with harmful side effects such as abdominal pain, vomiting, dizziness, distress, defaecation, tachycardia, hypersalivation, dyspnoea and panting (Fransson and Ragle 2003; Smith 2006; Verstegen et al. 2008). On the other hand, a significant reduction of these adverse effects is observed after intravaginal administration due to more local action and bypassing the systemic route (Gábor et al. 1999).