title: Changes in circulating levels and ratios of angiopoietins during pregnancy but not during the menstrual cycle and controlled ovarian stimulation.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hurliman
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Speroff
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Stouffer
authors.forename: Phillip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Patton
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Theodore A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Molskness
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: C467630:ANGPT1 protein, human; D042683:Angiopoietin-1; D042702:Angiopoietin-2