Role of Insulin-like growth factors in initiation of follicle growth in normal and polycystic human ovaries.

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the commonest cause of anovulatory infertility, is characterized by disordered follicle development including increased activation and accelerated growth of preantral follicles. Data from experimental animals and preliminary results from studies of human ovarian tissue suggest that IGFs affect preantral follicle development.

Objective: Our objectives were to investigate the expression of the type-1 IGF receptor (IGFR-1) in the human ovary and to determine whether IGFs are involved in stimulating the transition of follicles from primordial to primary stage in normal and polycystic ovaries.

Abnormal preantral folliculogenesis in polycystic ovaries is associated with increased granulosa cell division.

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women, but its etiology remains obscure. Recent data suggest that an intrinsic abnormality of early follicle development in the ovary is key to the pathogenesis of PCOS. We have recently found that in PCOS the proportion of primordial follicles is decreased with a reciprocal increase in the proportion of primary follicles.

Prolonged survival in culture of preantral follicles from polycystic ovaries.

Context: In polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an increased proportion of follicles leave the primordial (resting) pool and initiate growth. However, there is little evidence for a reduced reproductive life span (early menopause) in women with PCOS, suggesting that the dynamics of follicle growth, and of follicle loss by atresia, is altered in PCOS.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility that loss of preantral follicles by atresia is reduced in PCOS, leading to prolonged follicle survival.

Anti-müllerian hormone protein expression is reduced during the initial stages of follicle development in human polycystic ovaries.

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome, the most common cause of anovulatory infertility, is characterized by disordered folliculogenesis, notably increased progression from the primordial to the primary stages. This ovarian phenotype is similar to that observed in mice lacking anti-müllerian hormone (AMH).

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate whether AMH is involved in accelerating the transition of follicles from primordial to primary stages in polycystic ovaries.