Geijer-Simpson, AV, Tinning, H orcid.org/0000-0002-0840-3205, Bem, THC et al. (5 more authors) (2023) Sex-bias in utero alters ovarian reserve but not uterine capacity in female offspring. Biology of Reproduction, 108 (2). pp. 304-315. ISSN 0006-3363
Abstract
Environmental stressors to which a foetus is exposed, affect a range of physiological functions in post-natal offspring. We aimed to determine the in-utero effect of steroid hormones on reproductive potential of female offspring using a porcine model. Reproductive tracts of pigs from female-biased (>65% female, n = 15), non-biased (45–54.9% female, n = 15), and male-biased litters (<35% females, n = 9) were collected at slaughter (95–115 kg). Ovaries and uterine horns were processed for H&E or immunohistochemistry. Variability of data within groups was analysed with a Levenes test, whilst data was analysed using linear models in R. In the ovarian reserve, there was a significant birth weight by sex ratio interaction (p = 0.015), with low-birth-weight pigs from male-biased litters having a higher number of primordial follicles and the opposite trend seen in pigs from female-biased litters. Sex bias held no effect on endometrial gland development. A lower BW decreased the proportion of glands found in the endometrium (p = 0.045) and was more variable in both male-biased and female-biased litters (p = 0.026). The variability of primordial follicles from male-biased litters was greater than non- and female-biased litters (p = 0.014). Similarly, endometrial stromal nuclei had a greater range in male- and female-biased litters than non-biased litters (p = 0.028). A crucial finding was the greater variability in both primordial follicles in the ovaries from females derived from male-biased litters and stromal cell count in the endometrium of females from male- and female- biased litters. This could be inflating the variability of reproductive success seen in females from male-biased litters.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press behalf of Society for the Study of Reproduction. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | : Developmental origins of health and disease, Female reproductive tract, Ovary, 44 Pregnancy, Uterus. |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM) > Discovery & Translational Science Dept (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Dec 2022 14:12 |
Last Modified: | 28 Jun 2023 08:48 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioac208 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/biolre/ioac208 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193841 |
Download
Filename: Sex bias in utero alters ovarian reserve but not uterine.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0