DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMMING CAUSED BY ANDROGEN EXCESS IMPACTS ON OVARIAN CHOLESTEROL PATHWAY AND AFFECTS REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS

ALICIA BEATRIZ MOTTA; MARIA FLORENCIA HEBER; GISELLE ADRIANA ABRUZZESE

Congreso; 15th Annual Meeting of the Androgen Excess & PCOS Society; 2017

AEPCOS SOCIETY

Androgen excess during in utero life may be one of the leading causes to Polycystic ovarysyndrome (PCOS). PCOS is characterized by deregulation of metabolic andreproductive functions. Ovarian steroidogenesis is a complex process dependentof cholesterol availability, being this the substratum to steroids formation.The aim of this work was to assess the impact of prenatal hyperandrogenism onovarian cholesterol pathway.Pregnant rats were hyperandrogenized with testosteroneand a Control group was obtained by vehicle injection. To study the long termeffect of fetal programming caused by androgen excess,prenatallyhyperandrogenized(PH) female offspring(N=100) and Controls(N=80) were characterized according tothe estrous cycle as ovulatory (PHov) and anovulatory (PHanov) phenotypes atpubertal and adult age. To evaluate the effect on cholesterol metabolism wemeasured growth rate curve and serum lipid profile at adult life. We quantifiedby qPCR the mRNA levels of ovarian cholesterol receptors (LDL-R and SRB1),AcylCoA:cholesterolacyltransferase(ACAT), a rate-limiting enzyme in sterolsynthesis and the steroidogenic enzymes SF1and P450 aromatase.At adult life Controlrats showed (100%) regular estrous cycle, 51% of the PH group showed irregularestrous cycles (PHov), whereas 49% presented anovulatory cycles (PHanov). BothPH groups displayed dyslipidemia with high levels of LDL cholesterol and Tryglicerides (p