No abstract

Unkei-to (TJ-106) induced significant increases of plasma follicle stimulating hormone level in the first grade (P < 0.05), second grade amenorrhea without weight loss (P < 0.05), and weight loss related to second grade amenorrhea (P < 0.01) in eight weeks of treatment, respectively. Plasma estradiol level significantly increased 1.8 times in 4 week treatment with Unkei-to in first grade amenorrhea (P < 0.01). In second grade amenorrhea without weight loss and weight loss related second grade amenorrhea, plasma estradiol level significantly increased 2.9 times (P < 0.01) and 1.7 times (P < 0.05) in 8 weeks treatment, respectively. On the other hand, the patterns of pulsatile secretion of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone remarkably improved by the treatment with Unkei-to. In the patients with second grade amenorrhea, follicles stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone pulses appeared in 3 out of 13 (23.1%) and 6 out of 13 (46.2%) with the treatment of Unkei-to, respectively in 85% of whom no pulses has been observed before the treatment. Ovulation occurred in 62.2% (23/37), 26.6% (4/15), and 21.7% (5/23) of the patients with first grade, second grade amenorrhea without weight loss, and weight loss related second grade amenorrhea by the treatment with Unkei-to, respectively. These results indicate that Unkei-to is effective on improvement of gonadotropin pulsatile secretion in the treatment of anovulatory women. This suggests that Unkei-to may enhance the pituitary response to Gn-RH or improvement of the pulsatile secretion of Gn-RH, inducing normalization of diencephalon-pituitary-ovarian endocrine system in the anovulatory patients.

No abstract

To investigate the possible association of recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA) of immune aetiologies with neonatal sex differences, karyotyping of abortuses from allo-immune RSA and epidemiological studies on the sex differences of neonates from sporadic aborters was carried out. Allo-immune disorders, as diagnosed by an increased number of shared HLA class II loci and reduced blocking activity of the woman's serum in mixed lymphocyte reaction, were found almost twice (54.9%) as often as auto-immune disorders (29.9%) among a total of 244 women with RSA. Of 33 abortuses karyotyped from women with RSA, 69.7% showed normal female karyotypes, while only 6.1% had normal male karyotypes, indicating that female fetuses are more prone to abort than males. Epidemiological studies revealed that boys were born at a significantly greater incidence of 58.1% in 221 women with a history of sporadic abortion than 47.6% in 893 women with no history of abortion. Moreover, the proportion of women giving birth to boys only was consistently and significantly higher, regardless of repeated deliveries, in sporadic aborters (36.7%) than in women with no history of abortion (19.6%), showing that more boys were born than girls to women with sporadic abortion. It is concluded that male fetuses are more likely to survive than females in allo-immune RSA due to allo-immune reproductive wastage of chromosomally normal female concept in early human pregnancy, and that allo-immune RSA makes up the highest proportion of unexplained RSA.

Abstract.The localization of cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin 12 synthase in human female reproductive organs was examined by immunohistochemistry. Cyclooxygenase was localized in the cytoplasm of various cell types. The extent of cyclooxygenase expression in endometrial epithelial cells varied with the menstrual cycle, showing a peak at the secretory phase. Cyclooxygenase was also detected in the secretory cells, but not in the ciliated cells, of the fallopian tubes. Prostaglandin I2 synthase was detected in the cytoplasm of myometrial cells throughout the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy. The results suggest that cyclooxygenase expression in endometrial epithelial cells may be regulated by ovarian hormones, and that the localization of cyclooxygenase in secretory cells--but not ciliated cells--in the fallopian tube may reflect the different functions of these two cell types.