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Abstract
The general objective of this in vitro study was to examine the effect of bee pollen on the release of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF–I) and steroid hormone progesterone, and expression of markers of proliferation (PCNA) and apoptosis (caspase-3) in porcine ovarian granulosa cells. Concentrations of IGF–I and progesterone were determined by RIA method and expression of PCNA and caspase-3 by immunocytochemistry. Bee pollen addition at the dose of 10 ng/mL significantly (P<0.05) inhibited IGF-I release by porcine ovarian granulosa cells. This growth factor was not influenced by 100 and 1000 ng/mL doses of bee pollen. Progesterone release by cells was not influenced by bee pollen addition at the doses of 10, 100 and 1000 ng/mL as used in our study. Similarly expression of PCNA and caspase-3 was not affected by bee pollen addition. The present study shows dose-dependent regulation of IGF–I by experimental bee pollen addition in vitro. Progesterone release, expression of PCNA and caspase-3 in porcine ovarian granulosa cells was not induced by pollen. Our results contribute to new insights regarding the possible effect of bee pollen on IGF-I release, which is important for regulation of porcine ovarian functions.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to colleagues from the Institute for Genetics and Reproduction of Farm Animals, Animal Production Research Centre Nitra, particularly to Mrs. Katarina Tothova and Ing. Zofia Kuklova for their skillful technical assistance and MSc. S. Roychoudhury, PhD. for English linguistic revision. This work was financially supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (project no. 0299–06) and the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic.