Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment on a polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) rat model. Thirty-two female Wistar–Albino rats were randomly divided into four groups as follows – group 1: sham group (n: 8), group 2: letrozole-induced PCOS group (n: 8), group 3: letrozole-induced PCOS plus metformin-treated (500 mg/kg) group (n: 8) and group 4: letrozole-induced PCOS plus UDCA (150 mg/kg)-treated group (n: 8). Histopathologic examination of the ovaries, circulating estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), testosterone, androstenedione, glucose, insulin and lipid profiles were evaluated. Histopathologic examination results revealed that groups 3 and 4 had significantly lower cystic and atretic follicles compared to group 2. Besides, group 4 had significantly higher antral follicles than group 2 (8.5 ± 2.9 versus 5.4 ± 1.1; p: 0.001). Furthermore, total testosterone (4.9 ± 2.8 versus 8.8 ± 2.9; p= 0.004) and insulin levels were significantly lower in group 4 compared to group 2 (1.7 ± 0.08 versus 2.1 ± 0.5; p = 0.02). However, lipid parameters, E1, E2, glucose and HOMA-IR were comparable between the groups. Our study results demonstrated that UDCA therapy improves ovarian morphology and decreases total testosterone and insulin levels.
Chinese abstract
本研究的目的是确定熊去氧胆酸(UDCA)对大鼠多囊卵巢综合征(PCOS)模型治疗的效果。将32只雌性Wistar-Albino大鼠随机分为四组,如下所示,组1:假治疗组(n:8),组2:来曲唑诱导PCOS组(n:8),组3:来曲唑诱导PCOS+二甲双胍治疗(500mg/kg)组(n:8),组4:来曲唑诱导PCOS+ UDCA治疗(150mg/kg)组(n:8)。进行卵巢组织病理检查,评估循环中雌酮(E1),雌二醇(E2),睾酮,雄烯二酮,血糖,胰岛素和血脂水平。病理检查结果显示:和组2相比,组3和组4囊性卵泡和闭锁卵泡的数量显著降低。此外,组4窦状卵泡的数目比组2明显增多(8.5±2.9对5.4±1.1;p:0.001)。而且,组4的总睾酮(4.9±2.8比8.8±2.9;p = 0.004)和胰岛素水平(1.7±0.08比2.1±0.5;p = 0.02)明显低于组2 。然而,各组间的脂质水平,E1,E2,血糖和HOMA-IR是可比的。我们的研究结果表明UDCA治疗能改善卵巢形态并减少总睾酮和胰岛素的水平。
Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by Department of Scientific Research Project’s (Project No 13240) in Mustafa Kemal University.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.