Concentrations of inhibin in peripheral blood were determined by radioimmunoassay in pseudopregnant, pregnant and lactating rats and correlated with the status of follicular development, luteal function in the ovaries and placental function. In pseudopregnant rats, plasma concentrations of inhibin remained relatively high from days 2 to 12 of pseudopregnancy and no significant changes occurred throughout pseudopregnancy. In pregnant rats, a marked decline in plasma concentrations of inhibin occurred between days 6 and 14 followed by an abrupt increase on days 20 and 21. In lactating rats, plasma concentrations of inhibin were consistently lower in dams nursing eight pups than in dams nursing two pups. Plasma concentrations of inhibin remained low during the early stages of lactation followed by a significant increase during the late stages in dams nursing eight pups. These changes in inhibin during the period of lactation correlated with those of plasma concentrations of LH, but not with those of oestradiol-17β, testosterone and progesterone. Throughout pseudopregnancy, pregnancy and lactation, on the other hand, plasma concentrations of FSH were within the range of dioestrous levels.
These findings indicate that concentrations of inhibin in peripheral plasma vary with the number of healthy antral follicles and no positive correlation was observed with luteal function during the luteal phase in rats. The results also suggest that inhibin is a more direct index of follicular development than oestradiol-17β in rats.
Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 121, 545–552
Journal of Endocrinology is committed to supporting researchers in demonstrating the impact of their articles published in the journal.
The two types of article metrics we measure are (i) more traditional full-text views and pdf downloads, and (ii) Altmetric data, which shows the wider impact of articles in a range of non-traditional sources, such as social media.
More information is on the Reasons to publish page.
| Sept 2018 onwards | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Text Views | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| PDF Downloads | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Online ISSN: 1479-6805
Print ISSN: 0022-0795
Strengthening biomedical communities
to advance science and health
CONTACT US
Bioscientifica Ltd | Starling House | 1600 Bristol Parkway North | Bristol BS34 8YU | UK
Bioscientifica Ltd | Registered in England no 3190519
