Changes in circulating levels and ratios of angiopoietins during pregnancy but not during the menstrual cycle and controlled ovarian stimulation.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether angiopoietin (ANGPT)-1 and -2 are detectable in the circulation of nonhuman primates and women and whether these levels fluctuate in association with ovarian activity.


METHODS
Prospective.


METHODS
National Primate Research Center, medical center, and infertility clinic.


METHODS
Adult female rhesus monkeys; 15 women donating oocytes for infertility treatment.


METHODS
Controlled ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins, removal of the corpus luteum and ovaries, oocyte retrieval, and ET.


METHODS
Circulating levels of ANGPT-1 and ANGPT-2.


RESULTS
Serum ANGPT-1 and ANGPT-2 levels were detectable and invariant in maintaining an ANGPT-1 to -2 ratio >1 in [1] macaques over the course of the natural menstrual cycle, during a controlled ovulation protocol, and after removal of the corpus luteum or ovaries and [2] women undergoing controlled ovarian simulation. In contrast, the ANGPT-1 to -2 ratio was markedly decreased (<<1) at mid-to-late gestation in macaques and in the follicular fluid of women undergoing controlled ovarian simulation because of increased levels of ANGPT-2.


CONCLUSIONS
The ovary and its dominant structures are not major contributors to circulating levels of ANGPT-1 or ANGPT-2. The physiologic importance of the rising levels of ANGPT-2 after the luteal-placental shift in pregnancy is unknown.
Hurliman
Amanda K
AK
Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Speroff
Leon
L
Stouffer
Richard L
RL
Patton
Phillip E
PE
Lee
Annette
A
Molskness
Theodore A
TA
D000328:Adult; D042683:Angiopoietin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015571:Follicular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000097:blood*; D010062:Ovulation Induction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
C467630:ANGPT1 protein, human; D042683:Angiopoietin-1; D042702:Angiopoietin-2