Khan-Dawood F S, Dawood M Y
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77030, USA.
Hum Reprod Update. 1998 Jul-Aug;4(4):371-82. doi: 10.1093/humupd/4.4.371.
In spite of the importance of the corpus luteum in human reproduction, little is known about its formation after ovulation and during regression in the absence of conception. This is largely due to constraints on the availability of normal human tissue; therefore an appropriate model which could be studied and could provide information applicable to the human was sought. The baboon (Papio), a non-human primate, has been determined to be one such model. Thus, in the past several years our studies have examined the role of luteal peptides in corpus luteum function, and, when possible, we have attempted to examine corpora lutea from the human and baboon in parallel. Although a milk-ejection factor was recognized to be present in luteal tissue in 1910 (Ott and Scott, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., Vol. 8, p. 49), the role of oxytocin in luteal physiology has not been easy to ascertain. This is in part due to the methodologies employed to assess its role. Our studies summarized below suggest that oxytocin does not directly affect luteal steroidogenesis but that it may play a role in cell to cell communication involving the expression of the gap junction proteins, the connexins. In view of the fact that oxytocin, its receptor, gap junctions and associated proteins are not unique to the human and non-human primates, the model of luteal development and demise proposed may be applicable to most species.
尽管黄体在人类生殖过程中具有重要作用，但在排卵后以及未受孕时黄体退化过程中，人们对其形成机制却知之甚少。这主要是由于正常人体组织获取受限；因此，人们一直在寻找一种合适的模型，该模型既能用于研究，又能提供适用于人类的信息。狒狒（Papio），一种非人类灵长类动物，已被确定为这样一种模型。因此，在过去几年里，我们的研究探讨了黄体肽在黄体功能中的作用，并且在可能的情况下，我们试图同时研究人类和狒狒的黄体。尽管1910年人们就认识到黄体组织中存在一种排乳因子（Ott和Scott，《实验生物学与医学协会会刊》，第8卷，第49页），但催产素在黄体生理学中的作用却难以确定。这部分归因于用于评估其作用的方法。我们在下面总结的研究表明，催产素并不直接影响黄体类固醇生成，但它可能在涉及缝隙连接蛋白（连接蛋白）表达的细胞间通讯中发挥作用。鉴于催产素及其受体、缝隙连接和相关蛋白并非人类和非人类灵长类动物所特有，所提出的黄体发育和衰退模型可能适用于大多数物种。
