• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.451-461
• /
• 2000

The locus coeruleus(LG) is known to be observed a sexual dimorphism in rat CNS. LC is the largest collections of norepinephrine(NE)-containing neurons in the mammalian brain. Especially in rat, all LC neurons contained NE unlike other mammalians, so that specific reactions were found in the tyrosine-hydroxylase(TH) immunoreactive neurons. Sexual dimorphism of rat LC has affected by genes before sex hormone appeared, thereafter affected by sex hormones. In these day, many scientists founded morphological differences between male and female LC morphology, but differences of entire structure was not founded. Thus we investigated sex differences of the LC neuron's morphology in rat by three-dimensional(3-D) reconstruction using Confocal laser scanning microscopy(CLSM). We reported that neuron's shape was relatively-large multipolar neurons and neuron's processes in dorsal LC proceeded to ventral direction in the male and female rat. Male had a longer anterior-posterior length than female had in dorsal LC. In addition to middle-LC, male rat's LC had a more thicker posterior region but had not viewed in a previous study. In reverse, female rat's LC had a thicker anterior region like a previous study. This results using 3-D reconstruction by CLSM showed that the male's LC was more wide-ranging than female's relatively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.155-160
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to analyse female academician health beliefs for breast cancer screening and levels of self-esteem. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2010 and March 2011, covering female academicians working in all faculties and vocational schools at Ondokuz Mayis University, except for the ones in the field of health (n=141). Data was collected using a questionnaire developed by researchers in the light of the related literature, the Champion's Health Belief Model Scale for Breast Cancer, and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Descriptive statistics, the t-test, Mann-Whitney U and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data with the SPSS 13.0 statistical package. Results: 53.8% of the participants were single, 58.6% did not have children, 80.7% had regular menstrual cycles, 28.3% was taking birth control pills, 17.9% were undergoing hormone therapy, 11% suffered breast problems, 8.3% had relatives with breast cancer, 78,6% knew about breast self-examination (BSE), 68.3% was performing BSE, 16.2% were performing BSE monthly, 17.9% had had mammograms, and 30.3% had undergone breast examinations conductedby physicians. The women who had breast physical examinations done by physicians had higher susceptibility, self-efficacy and health motivation, and fewer barriers to mammography than those who did not have breast physical examinations. Conclusions: There was a relationship between the female academician self-esteem and their perceived seriousness of breast cancer, perceived barriers to BSE and health motivation. Our Turksih female academicians had medium levels of self-esteem.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.229-234
• /
• 2017

Photoperiod is one of the factors affecting productivity of cucumber plant by inducing ethylene hormone production and so triggering flower sex differentiation into female flower. However, only few studies have been perfomed in order to reveal the effect of photoperiod in molecular level in relation to the flower differentiation. Therefore, in this study, Mercy cultivar of cucumber (andromonoecious) was treated with photoperiod of 8, 12, 16 hours of light, while control received no treatment of additional light. Photoperiod of 8 hours was achieved by blocking the sunlight with shade net and 16 hours by giving longer light exposure using white LEDs. Cucumber's flowers were quantified and the apical and lateral shoots were extracted to evaluate the gene profile related to the photoperiod, ethylene production, and female flower differentiation, which were CsACS2, CsETR1, CsCaN, and CsPIF4 using PCR method. Photoperiod of 8 hours affected the production of female flower with average number of 6.7 flowers in main stem and 8.0 flowers in lateral stem, compared to photoperiod of 12 and 16 hours which produced 3.7 and 2.0 flowers in main stem with 7.0 and 11.3 in lateral stem, respectively. In silico studies in this experiment resulted in proposed model of signal transduction that showed the connection between ethylene production and flower differentiation. PCR analysis confirmed the expression of CsACS2, CsETR1, and CsCaN, that was positively correlated with numbers of female flowers in cucumber, but the expression of CsPIF4 that represent photoperiod haven't been confirmed correlated with the ethylene production and flower differentiation.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.137-143
• /
• 1998

The effects of continuous GH(hGH) secretion on the female reproduction was studies in adults female transgenic rats expressing the hGH gene with a mouse whey acid protein (mWAP) promotor. Two line of transgenic female rats carrying the mWAP/hGH gene were established and used in the study. One was characterized by relatively high levels of serum hGH (high line), and the other had relatively low levels (low line). 1. High line female rats had recurring, Pseudopregancy-like estrous cycles accompanied by increased serum progesterone level for 2 weeks after ovulation, and they were fertile. 2. In the rats, luteinization occurred spontaneously without cervical stimulation, probably due to high levels of serum hGH, which has prolactin (PRL)-like activity in the rat. 3. Low line female rats had recurring, regular 4-days estrous PRL surge following cervical stimulation were not, detected and PRL secretion was not induced by a dopamine antagonist. 4. The ovarian tissue in this line had a much higher number of corpora lutea and grew much heavier than in normal littermates, suggesting impairment of PRL induced structural luteolized. Su, pp.ession of PRL secretion in the low line rats was, at least in part, due to a marked decrease in the number of lactotrophs in the pituitary. The present study shows that the serum hGH level plays a crucial role in regulating luteal function in female transgenic rats expressing the hGH gene.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.72-76
• /
• 2015

$17{\alpha}$-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase are enzymes encoded by the CYP17A1 gene and are required for the synthesis of sex steroids and cortisol. In $17{\alpha}$-hydroxylase deficiency, there are low blood levels of estrogens, androgens, and cortisol, and resultant compensatory increases in adrenocorticotrophic hormone that stimulate the production of 11-deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone. In turn, the excessive levels of mineralocorticoids lead to volume expansion and hypertension. Females with $17{\alpha}$-hydroxylase deficiency are characterized by primary amenorrhea and delayed puberty, with accompanying hypertension. Affected males usually have female external genitalia, a blind vagina, and intra-abdominal testes. The treatment of this disorder is centered on glucocorticoid and sex steroid replacement. In patients with $17{\alpha}$-hydroxylase deficiency who are being raised as females, estrogen should be supplemented, while genetically female patients with a uterus should also receive progesterone supplementation. Here, we report a case of a 21-year-old female with $17{\alpha}$-hydroxylase deficiency who had received inadequate treatment for a prolonged period of time. We also include a brief review of the recent literature on this disorder.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.173-181
• /
• 1992

Duck is an important domestic animal, especially in Asia. Eighty five percent of ducks in the world are kept in Asia, especially in the East and South Asia regions. The ancestor of domesticated ducks was mallard (Anas platylhynchos), which are still migrating between north and southern parts in Eurasia. Ducks have been domesticated in China for at least 3000 years ago. Phylogenetic studies on ducks, employing electrophoresis of blood proteins, indicate a marked difference of genetic constitution between duck breeds in southeast Asia and those in northeast Asia. Duck embryonic ovary is much more active in secretion of sex steroid hormones especially estradiol than the embryonic testes. Estradiol secreted by the embryonic left ovary has an important role in female sexual differentiation in ducks. In the female ducks, plasma LH, estradiol and testosterone levels increase and reach peaks shortly before the first egg, while progesterone level reach a peak shortly after the first egg. In laying ducks oviposition mostly occurs in the last 3 hr of darkness and first hr of light ranging 02:00-06:00 under 14 hr light (05:00-19:00) and 10 hr darkness photoperiodic condition. Measurements of plasma hormone levels reveal that onset of darkness is a major signal for LH release from the pituitary and the subsequent release of progesterone from ovary, and for induction of ovulation in the female duck.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.219-226
• /
• 2012

Gender specificity in muscle growth and development is well known. Genesis of muscle is dependent on proliferation and differentiation potential of resident myogenic satellite cells (MSCs) present in muscle fibers. Multipotential capacity of forming myocyte, osteocyte, and adipocyte like cell makes MSCs a unique stem cell. To understand the molecular mechanism involved in determination of muscle quality due to difference in hormone concentration of different gender of animals, MSCs were isolated from bovine skeletal muscle and cultured in male, female, and castrated serum supplemented media. DNA microarray used consisted of 24,000 spots with 70 mer oligo in each spot. A total of 88 genes were up-regulated and 551 genes were down-regulated by more than two fold. Among up-regulated gene, 33, 34, and 21 genes were found up-regulated in cells grown in male, female, and castrated serum, respectively. Interestingly, male serum showed 4, female 11 and castrated male showed 4 genes expressed highly in each gender. Further study on the highly up-regulated gene may unfold the mystery of gender specificity found in muscle development. Also, the identification of differentially expressed genes in gender-specific serum will add information on infrastructure of bovine genome research.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.7-11
• /
• 2003

Interactions of both feminizing and masculinizing chemicals inducing imposex in gastropod were investigated with a long-term exposure experiment. Imposex-free rock shell(Thais-clavigera)was exposed to TBT and other antagonistic chemicals (nonylphenol and DDT), P450 inducer (phenobarbital) and natural sex hormone (estrogen) mixtures for 60 days. None of imposexed-females were found in control, sham (ethanol) and testosterone exposure group, on the other hand imposex was induced in the TBT and all the TBT+antagonist mixture groups. After 60-day exposure, frequency of imposexed-female ranged from 31-68%. Female mean penis length (FMPL) of imposexed-female ranged from 0.87-2.58 mm, and relative penis length indices were from 7.2 to 21.2%. However, the degrees of imposex were different among the exposure groups. The FMPLS of three exposure groups (TBT+estrogen, + DDT and +nonylphe- not) were less than that of the TBT exposure group. Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activities in gastropod decreased in the TBT and all the TBT+antagonist ekposure groups compared to the control group. A negative correlation was abtained between TBT body residue and EROD activity, while a positive relationship was obtained between 737 body residue and the degree of imposex except for the TBT +DDT exposure group. Although 737 concentration was relatively high in the TBT+DDT exposure group, the TBT +DDT exposure group demonstrated low EROD activity and low degree of imposex. These results indicate that a certain antagonistic effect of DDT occurred in induction of imposex by TBT.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.40-49
• /
• 2019

Chronic and unpredictable stress can disrupt the female reproductive system by suppression for secretion of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and gonadotrophin, resulted in ovarian malfunction and infertility. In the recent days, kisspeptin has been highly highlighted as a hypothalamic peptide which directly stimulates synthesis and release for GnRH. However, in spite of the key role of kisspeptin in the female reproductive system, little information is still available on the changes of its expression during ovarian cycle under stressed condition. Therefore, we induced chronic and unpredictable stress series to the female mice to analyze kisspeptin expression in the brain and ovary. Stressed mice exhibited changes of behavior and body weight gain during the stress assessment, which suggested that the present stress model in mice was successfully established. In the brain level, kisspeptin expression was attenuated than control. In the ovary level, the stressed mice displayed irregularly shrunk oocytes with broken zona pellucida throughout the follicle stages, pyknotic granulosa cells, decreased number of developing follicles and increased number of atretic follicles than the control. In case of kisspeptin expression in the whole ovary tissue, the expression level was decreased in the stressed mice. In detail, the less intensity of kisspeptin expression in the antral follicles phase was observed in the stressed mice than control mice, indicating that local function of kisspeptin during ovary cycle is highly associated with development of ovarian follicles. We expect that the present study has important implications for the fields of reproductive biology.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.33-37
• /
• 2021

[Purpose] Sex hormones deficiency leads to dramatically bone loss in particular postmenopausal women. Royal jelly has anti-osteoporosis effect due to maintain bone volume in that condition. We hypothesized that royal jelly protein (RJP, a latent residue after extracting royal jelly) also prevents bone deficient in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats, the animal model of postmenopausal women. [Methods] Female Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 30, 6 weeks age old) were sham operated (Sham; sham operated group, n = 7), OVX control group (OC, n = 7), OVX with low RJP intake group (ORL, n = 8), and OVX with high RJP intake group (ORH, n = 8) during 8 weeks experimental periods. In the end point of this experiment, the bone samples (lumbar spine, tibia, and femur) were surgically removed under anesthesia. These bone samples were evaluated bone mineral density (BMD) and bone strength. [Results] BMD of lumbar spine in RJP intake groups (ORL, ORH) were higher than that in OC group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) in RJP intake volume dependent manner. BMD of tibial proximal metaphysis and diaphysis in RJP intake groups were also higher than these in OC group (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01 / p < 0.05 and p < 0.001). In addition, breaking force of femur in RJP intake groups were significantly increase compared with that in OC group (p < 0.001 respectively). [Conclusion] These findings indicate that RJP contribute to prevent sex hormone related bone abnormality.