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The Role of Prostaglandins and Catecholamines for Human Corpus Luteum Function

  • Chapter
The Primate Ovary

Part of the book series: Serono Symposia, USA ((SERONOSYMP))

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Abstract

In many animal species as well as in women, the function of the corpus luteum appears to be regulated by both luteotropic and luteolytic factors. The limited accessibility to well-defined human tissue has impaired studies on the human corpus luteum, and most knowledge, therefore, is based on extrapolations from measurements of steroids in the ovarian vein blood, or in the systemic circulation. Since a countercurrent system carrying steroids and prostaglandins (PGs) from the uteroovarian vein to the ovarian artery has been demonstrated both in animals (1) and in women (2), an intraovarian hormonal environment is created different from that of the periphery. This local milieu appears to be important for follicular development, ovulation and corpus luteum formation and function, which can be regarded as a dynamic sector within the ovary. However, there exists also a more static compartment, represented by primordial follicles and stromal cells. In the following, we will focus the discussion upon factors regulating the corpus luteum function during its life span. Crudely, these influences can be divided into distant factors, e.g., gonadotropins, and local factors, represented by PGs and catecholamines. Since we recently reviewed the gonadotropic regulation of human corpus luteum function (3), the current presentation will be restricted to the above-mentioned local factors. The intimate interrelation between these two regulatory systems, however, must be kept in mind.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Goteborg, Goteborg, S-413 45, Sweden

    Lars Hamberger, Mats Hahlin & Bo Lindblom

Authors
  1. Lars Hamberger
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  2. Mats Hahlin
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  3. Bo Lindblom
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, Beaverton, Oregon, USA

    Richard L. Stouffer

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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York

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Hamberger, L., Hahlin, M., Lindblom, B. (1987). The Role of Prostaglandins and Catecholamines for Human Corpus Luteum Function. In: Stouffer, R.L. (eds) The Primate Ovary. Serono Symposia, USA. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9513-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9513-7_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9515-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9513-7

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