Abstract
An attempt has been made in this paper to review our present understanding of luteal function during the periimplantation period and in particular hormonal requirement for implantation and maintenance of early pregnancy in the non-human primate.
In a fertile cycle thecorpus luteum is apparently rescued from luteolysis by chorionic gonadotropin secreted by the implanted blastocyst, In the bonnet monkey the serum progesterone titers during the luteal phase of a fertile cycle seems higher compared to that of nonmated cycling monkeys. This suggested that thecorpus luteum is receiving some stimulatory signal from the blastocyst even prior to implantation. The recent demonstration that human blastocyst in culture secretes into the medium human chorionic gonadotropin essentially support the above assumption. However, attempts to extend the luteal phase of cycling unmated monkeys with exogenous human chorionic gonadotropin injection has hitherto not met with complete success suggesting that there could be other than chorionic gonadotropin, additional luteal stimulatory factors the unimplanted blastocyst is secreting.
Corpus luteum is the principle source of both progesterone and estrogen produced during the periimplantation period and dysruption of luteal function, brought about by either lutectomy or ovariectomy or luteinizing hormone antiserum treatment, followed by progesterone supplementation leads to maintenance of pregnancy. This has lead to questioning the need for estrogen in the maintenance of early pregnancy. Recent work using Zuclomiphene, an antiestrogen during days 5–11 of cycle in rhesus monkeys mated between day 9–14, has however, suggested that estrogen may be required for implantation. Further work is needed to arrive at an unequivocal decision regarding the need for estrogen in maintenance of early pregnancy in the primate.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- CL:
-
Corpus luteum
- LH:
-
luteinizing hormone
- hCG:
-
human chorionic gonadotropin
References
Adiga, P. R. and Ramana Murthy, C. V. (1983)Vitamin carrier proteins during embryonic development in birds and mammals in Molecular Biology of egg maturation, Ciba Foundation Symposium No. 98 (London: Pitman)p. 111.
Atkinson, L. E., Hotchkiss, J., Fritz, G. R., Surve, A. H., Neill, J. D. and Knobil, E. (1975)Biol. Reprod.,12, 335.
Booher, G., Enders, A. C, Hendrickx, A. G. and Hess, D. L. (1981)Am. J. Anatomy,160, 17.
Bosu, W. T. K. and Johansson, E. D. B. (1975)Acta Endocrinol.,79, 598.
Fishel, S. B., Edwards, R. G. and Avans, G. J. (1984)Science,223, 816.
Hearn, J. P. (1980) inImmunological aspects of Reproduction and Fertility Control, ed. J. P. Hearn (London: MTP Press) p.229.
Hendrickx, A. G. and Enders, A. C. (1980) inNon human primate models for study of human reproduction, ed. T. C. Anand Kumar (Basel: S. Karger) p. 109.
Meyer, R. K., Wolf, R. C. and Arslan, M. (1969) inHOFER Recent Advances in Primatology (Basel: S. Karger)2, 30.
Moudgal, I. R., Mukku, O. R., Prahalada, S., Murty, G. S. R. C. and Li, C. H. (1978)Fertil. Steril. 30, 223.
Mukku, V. R. and Moudgal, I. R. (1979) inRecent Advances in Reproduction and Regulation of Fertility, ed. G. P. Talwar. (Elsevier/North Holland) p. 135.
Prahalada, S., Mukku, V. R., Rao, A. J. and Moudgal, I. R. (1975)Contraception,12, 137.
Prasad, I. R. I. and Sankaran, I. S. (1975)J. Sci. Ind. Res. (India),34, 336.
Rao, A. J. and Moudgal, N. R. (1984)Gonadal hormonal profiles during the periimplantation period in the bonnet monkeys, Proceedings of the Indo-US Symposium on Ovum ImplantationICMRNew Delhi, p. 92.
Saxena, B. B., Hasan, S. C., Haour, F. and Schmidt-Gollwitzer, M. (1974)Science,184, 793.
Sengupta, J., Paria, B. C. and Manchanda, S. K. (1981)J. Reprod. Fertil. 62, 437.
Sengupta, J., Roy S. E., Paria, B. C. and Manchanda, S. K.(1984)Role of embryonic estrogen during early gestation and implantation, Proceedings of the Indo-US Symposium on Ovum Implantation, ICMR, New Delhi, p. 54.
Walsh, S. W., Wolf, R. G, Meyer, R. K. and Robinson, J. A. (1979)Biol. Reprod.,20, 606.
Wilks, J. W. and Noble, A. S. (1983)Endocrinology 112, 1256.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moudgal, N.R. Luteal function during the periimplantation period and requirement for estrogen for implantation and pregnancy maintenance in the non-human primate. J Biosci 6 (Suppl 2), 93–96 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02716720
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02716720