Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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NEUROHORMONAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL REGULATION OF OESTROGEN, PROGESTERONE, LUTEINIZING HORMONE AND FOLLICLE STIMULATING HORMONE OVER THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE – THE POSSIBLE RELEVANCE OF ANGIONTENSIN II

ROXANA MIHAELA BARBU 1, ALIN CIOBÎCĂ 2,3,4, BOGDAN AURELIAN STANA 1, IONUȚ RĂDUCU POPESCU 1*, WALTHER BILD 1,2

1.“Gr. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Physiology Department, Iași, Romania
2.Center of Biomedical Research of the Romanian Academy, Iași, Romania
3.Department of Research, Faculty of Biology, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, 20A Carol I Avenue, Iași, Romania
4.Academy of Romanian Scientists, 54 Splaiul Independenței, sector 5, 050094, București, România

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The menstrual cycle is a series of physiological changes that occur under hormonal control in females during the childbearing age. Its neurohormonal regulation is made via the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis that regulates hormones levels like luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and indirectly via oestrogens and progesterone. Their plasma levels can vary during the phases of the menstrual cycle: the follicular, ovulatory and luteal phase. Changes in hormonal balance, in the luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone alter the oestrogen/progesterone balance, and can disrupt the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to explore the reciprocal relationships between sex steroid hormones, oestrogen and progesterone and gonadotropic hormones, such as luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, during the physiological ovulatory menstrual cycle. For this study we used 20 nulliparous female mice and 15 multiparous female mice. The obtained results show that plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and oestrogens were altered significantly between the phases of the menstrual cycle in nulliparous compared to multiparous female mice, but the progesterone values were not different for the two groups of mice studied. It is recognized that ovarian factors, including steroid and protein hormones, are critical in regulating pituitary gonadotropin feedback, but nevertheless, their individual contributions are less defined. We have shown that the administration of angiotensin II, in the same nulliparous and multiparous female mice, in which the hormonal assessment was performed, significantly increases the muscular contractility stimulated by the electric field.