title: Role of activin, inhibin, and follistatin in the pathogenesis of bovine cystic ovarian disease.
abstract: Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an important cause of infertility in dairy cattle. Although many researchers have focused their work on the endocrine changes related to this disease, evidence indicates that intraovarian components play an important role in follicular persistence. Activin, inhibin, and follistatin participate as intraovarian regulatory molecules involved in follicular cell proliferation, differentiation, steroidogenesis, oocyte maturation, and corpus luteum function. Given the importance of these factors in folliculogenesis, we examined the expression and immunolocalization of activin/inhibin βA-subunit, inhibin α-subunit, and follistatin in the ovaries of healthy estrus-synchronized cows and in those of cows with spontaneous or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-induced COD. We also studied inhibin B (α βB) levels in serum and follicular fluid. We found an increased expression of the βA-subunit of activin A/inhibin A, the α-subunit of inhibin, and follistatin in granulosa cells of spontaneous follicular cysts by immunohistochemistry, and decreased concentrations of inhibin B (α βB) in the follicular fluid of spontaneous follicular cysts. These results, together with those previously obtained, indicate that the expression of the components of the activin-inhibin-follistatin system is altered. This could lead to multiple alterations in important functions in the ovary like the balance between pro- and anti-apoptotic factors, follicular proliferation/apoptosis, and steroidogenesis, which may contribute to the follicular persistence and endocrine changes found in cattle with COD.
authors.affiliation: Cátedra de Teriogenología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Matías L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Stangaferro
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral (ICiVet-Litoral), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Matiller
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral (ICiVet-Litoral), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Pablo U
authors.initials: PU
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral (ICiVet-Litoral), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Hugo H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral (ICiVet-Litoral), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rey
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral (ICiVet-Litoral), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Fernanda M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Manuel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral (ICiVet-Litoral), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: salvetti@fcv.unl.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Natalia R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Salvetti
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015571:Follicular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D038681:Follistatin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D028322:Inhibin-beta Subunits / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D007265:Inhibins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D010048:Ovarian Cysts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary; D021122:Protein Subunits; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D038681:Follistatin; D021122:Protein Subunits; C103008:inhibin beta A subunit; C094377:inhibin-alpha subunit; D007265:Inhibins; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D028322:Inhibin-beta Subunits
keywords: Activin, βA-subunit; Cattle; Cysts; Follistatin; Inhibin, α-Subunit; Ovary