Follicle stimulating hormone binding inhibiting activity and inhibin properties of human ovarian cystic and porcine follicular fluid.

Ovarian cystic fluid was obtained from 13 regularly cycling women with the operative diagnosis of ovarian serous (n = 6), mucinous cystadenomas (n = 3) and simple follicular cysts (n = 4). The effects of the fluids, after steroid extraction with charcoal treatment, on the binding of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to rat testicular homogenates and on the in vitro secretion of FSH and luteinizing hormone (LH) by rat pituitary cell preparations were studied. Similar studies were conducted simultaneously with steroid-free porcine follicular fluid (pFF). Human ovarian cystic fluids produced a marked inhibition of FSH-binding activity in the absence of an effect on FSH or LH secretion. In contrast, pFF exhibited both FSH-binding inhibitory (FSH-BI) and inhibin activities. Furthermore, heating did not alter the FSH-BI activity nor the inhibin properties of steroid-free human ovarian cystic fluids nor porcine follicular fluid.