No abstract

Corticotropin-releasing hormone acts as a stressor mediator in the human reproductive system. Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) has been detected in several carcinomas of gynecological origin like breast, ovarian, and endometrial carcinomas. It was additionally shown that CRH could induce Fas ligand (FasL) expression in ovarian carcinoma cell lines. To determine whether CRH could also be expressed during cervical cancer development, we studied the expression of CRH using HeLa cells in an in vitro cervical cancer model. We further studied whether CRH could regulate FasL expression. In that context, HeLa cells were cultured in the presence or absence of 1 μM CRH. CRH and FasL expressions were assessed by indirect immunofluorescence, reverse transcription PCR, and Western blot. The current results indicated that in HeLa cells, CRH can significantly induce both FasL transcription and FasL translation. Taking into account previous studies already establishing a connection between FasL expression and tumor immunoescape in cervical cancer, it can be concluded that such immunoescape could be CRH dependent.

A case of a 66-year-old obese woman with type II diabetes mellitus and a 4 year history of virilism is presented. After removal of the ovaries the raised testosterone levels returned to normal and signs of virilism gradually receded. The histological finding of nodular hyperthecosis of the ovaries is discussed in relation to hyperinsulinaemia.