ArticleReproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E2024
The profile of steroid hormones in human fetal and adult ovaries.
Article in Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04613583 (Normal Development of the Human Fetus and the Influences and Mechanisms by Which That Development Occurs and is Perturbed), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 papers.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Normal Development of the Human Fetus and the Influences and Mechanisms by Which That Development Occurs and is Perturbed
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sexually dimorphic expression and hormonal responsiveness of steroidogenic Cyp genes during gonadal differentiation in mandarin fish.Fish physiology and biochemistry · 2026Article
- Selenium Attenuates LPS-Induced Injury in Ovine Granulosa Cells by Protecting Mitochondrial Ultrastructure and Cellular Homeostasis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Aging disrupts spatiotemporal coordination in the cycling murine ovary.Nature aging · 2026Article
- Supporting-like cells constitute an alternative steroidogenic lineage conserved in amniotes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Study of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Gene Polymorphisms (International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- The persisting presence of absence in female sex development: a critical interdisciplinary reflection.Biology of sex differences · 2026Review
- Proteomic and metabolomic analysis of human follicular fluid from follicles with different diameters.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and female reproductive health: a growing concern.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2025Review
- Defining the cell and molecular origins of the primate ovarian reserve.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- Diversity of estrogen biodegradation pathways and application in environmental bioremediation.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Germ cell and other tumors in individuals with differences in sex development.CA: a cancer journal for cliniciansReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundReproduction in women is at risk due to exposure to chemicals that can disrupt the endocrine system during different windows of sensitivity throughout life. Steroid hormone levels are fundamental for the normal development and function of the human reproductive system, including the ovary. This study aims to elucidate steroidogenesis at different life-stages in human ovaries.
methodsWe have developed a sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method for 21 important steroid hormones and measured them at different life stages: in media from cultures of human fetal ovaries collected from elective terminations of normally progressing pregnancy and in media from adult ovaries from Caesarean section patients, and follicular fluid from women undergoing infertility treatment. Statistically significant differences in steroid hormone levels and their ratios were calculated with parametric tests. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to explore clustering of the ovarian-derived steroidogenic profiles.
resultsComparison of the 21 steroid hormones revealed clear differences between the various ovarian-derived steroid profiles. Interestingly, we found biosynthesis of both canonical and "backdoor" pathway steroid hormones and corticosteroids in first and second trimester fetal and adult ovarian tissue cultures. 17α-estradiol, a less potent naturally occurring isomer of 17β-estradiol, was detected only in follicular fluid. PCA of the ovarian-derived profiles revealed clusters from: adult ovarian tissue cultures with relatively high levels of androgens; first trimester and second trimester fetal ovarian tissue cultures with relatively low estrogen levels; follicular fluid with the lowest androgens, but highest corticosteroid, progestogen and estradiol levels. Furthermore, ratios of specific steroid hormones showed higher estradiol/ testosterone and estrone/androstenedione (indicating higher CYP19A1 activity, p < 0.01) and higher 17-hydroxyprogesterone/progesterone and dehydroepiandrosterone /androstenedione (indicating higher CYP17A1 activity, p < 0.01) in fetal compared to adult ovarian tissue cultures.
conclusionsHuman ovaries demonstrate de novo synthesis of non-canonical and "backdoor" pathway steroid hormones and corticosteroids. Elucidating the steroid profiles in human ovaries improves our understanding of physiological, life-stage dependent, steroidogenic capacity of ovaries and will inform mechanistic studies to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals that affect female reproduction.
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