Role of activin, inhibin and follistatin in the pathogenesis of bovine cystic ovarian disease

STANGAFERRO ML (EQUAL CONTRIBUTIONS); MATILLER V (EQUAL CONTRIBUTIONS); DIAZ PU; ORTEGA HH; REY F; RODRIGUEZ FM; SILVA MA; SALVETTI NR

ANIMAL REPRODUCTION SCIENCE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014 vol. 148 p. 97 - 108

0378-4320

Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an important cause of infertility in dairy cattle. Although many researchers have focused their works on the endocrine changes related to this disease, evidence indicates that intraovarian components play an important role in follicular persistence. Activin, inhibin, and follistatin participate as intraovarian regulatory molecules involved in follicular cell proliferation, differentiation, steroidogenesis, oocyte maturation and corpus luteum function. Given the importance of these factors in folliculogenesis, we examined the expression and immunolocalization of activin/inhibin âA subunit, inhibin á subunit and follistatin in the ovaries of healthy estrus-synchronized cows and in those of cows with spontaneous or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-induced COD. We also studied inhibin B (á âB) levels in serum and follicular fluid. We found an increased expression of the âA subunit of activin A/inhibin A, the á subunit of inhibin and follistatin in granulosa cells of spontaneous follicular cysts by immunohistochemistry, and decreased concentrations of inhibin B (á âB) in the follicular fluid of spontaneous follicular cysts. These results, together with those previously obtained, indicate that the expression of the components of the activin-inhibin-follistatin system is altered. This could lead to multiple alterations in important functions in the ovary like the balance between pro- and anti-apoptotic factors, follicular proliferation/apoptosis and steroidogenesis, which may contribute to the follicular persistence and endocrine changes found in cattle with COD.