Burger H G
Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Hum Reprod. 1993 Nov;8 Suppl 2:129-32. doi: 10.1093/humrep/8.suppl_2.129.
The pituitary--ovarian axis describes a regulatory system in which pituitary gonadotrophins stimulate ovarian folliculogenesis and the production of both steroid and protein hormones, which in turn exercise feedback control on the pituitary and hypothalamus. The availability of a radioimmunoassay for serum inhibin has allowed exploration of inhibin's role in the regulation of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). This gonadotrophin stimulates ovarian inhibin secretion within the physiological dose range, both after exogenous administration and during endogenous rises, as are seen during puberty and the mid-cycle FSH surge. No direct evidence of FSH suppression by inhibin administered to human subjects has been obtained. During periods of endogenously raised inhibin levels, however, FSH is suppressed, as seen during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (luteinizing hormone drives inhibin production at that time), during pregnancy and in patients with inhibin-secreting granulosa cell tumors of the ovary. In contrast, decreased inhibin levels in the presence of intact hypothalamo-pituitary function result in increased FSH concentrations--as in early childhood, during the luteal-follicular transition and during reproductive ageing. After the menopause inhibin levels are normally undetectable, with FSH being markedly elevated. These observations are compatible with a role for endogenous inhibin in the regulation of FSH, though the contribution of oestradiol is in most instances impossible to dissect out separately.
垂体 - 卵巢轴描述了一种调节系统，其中垂体促性腺激素刺激卵巢卵泡生成以及类固醇和蛋白质激素的产生，而这些激素又反过来对垂体和下丘脑进行反馈控制。血清抑制素放射免疫测定法的出现使得人们能够探索抑制素在促卵泡激素（FSH）调节中的作用。这种促性腺激素在生理剂量范围内，无论是在外源性给药后还是在内源性升高期间（如青春期和月经周期中期FSH峰时所见），都会刺激卵巢抑制素的分泌。尚未获得给人类受试者注射抑制素后抑制FSH的直接证据。然而，在内源性抑制素水平升高期间，FSH会受到抑制，如在月经周期的黄体期（此时黄体生成素驱动抑制素的产生）、怀孕期间以及患有卵巢分泌抑制素的颗粒细胞瘤的患者中所见。相反，在丘脑 - 垂体功能完好的情况下，抑制素水平降低会导致FSH浓度升高——如在幼儿期、黄体 - 卵泡过渡期以及生殖衰老期间。绝经后，抑制素水平通常无法检测到，而FSH则明显升高。这些观察结果与内源性抑制素在FSH调节中的作用相符，尽管在大多数情况下，雌二醇的作用无法单独区分出来。
