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Hayato Shimada, Hitoshi Okamura, Yichi Noda, Akira Suzuki, Shimpei Tj

To elucidate the possible roles of increased plasminogen activator (PA) in follicular rupture and to investigate whether prostaglandins participate in ovarian PA synthesis in vivo, enzyme activities were sequentially measured by a method using the chromogenic substrate S-2251 in immature rat ovaries primed with pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) followed by human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) either alone or with a concurrent injection of indomethacin.

Before hCG injection PA activity was 0·006 ± 0·006 (S.D.) µmol/1·6 mg ovarian tissue (wet wt) per 30 min: PA activity of a saline-treated group remained at low levels (<0·018 ± 0·003 µmol/1·6 mg tissue per 30 min). In contrast, PA activity of animals given hCG alone increased after the treatment, reaching a peak value of 0·112 ± 0·071 µmol/1·6 mg tissue per 30 min 12 h later, before decreasing to 0·023 ± 0·014 µmol/1·6 mg tissue per 30 min at 32 h. Contrary to expectations, a dose of indomethacin which completely blocked ovulation had no effect on either the magnitude or the time-course of PA synthesis after hCG administration (P>0·05).

These results indicate that prostaglandins are not involved in the preovulatory synthesis of PA induced by hCG in rat ovaries and that PA is not a primary proteolytic enzyme for follicular rupture. It is suggested that PA has possible roles in cumulus detachment and/or proliferation of granulosa cells during the ovulatory process.

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				M Gaytan, C Bellido, C Morales, J E Sanchez-Criado, and F Gaytan Effects of selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase and lipooxygenase pathways in follicle rupture and ovulation in the rat. Reproduction, October 1, 2006; 132(4): 571 - 577. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]