Effect of electro-acupuncture on ovarian expression of α (1)- and β (2)-adrenoceptors, and p75 neurotrophin receptors in rats with steroid-induced polycystic ovaries

In the present study, we further tested the hypothesis that repeated 2 Hz EA treatments modulate ovarian sympathetic outflow in rats with PCO, induced by a single i.m. injection of EV, by investigating the mRNA expression, the amount and distribution of proteins of α1a-, α1b-, α1d-, and β2-adrenoceptors (ARs), as well as the low-affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR).It was found that EV injection results in significantly higher mRNA expression of ovarian α1b- and α1d-AR in PCO rats compared to control rats. The p75NTR and β2-ARs mRNA expression were unchanged in the PCO ovary. Low-frequency EA resulted in a significantly lower expression of β2-ARs mRNA expression in PCO rats. The p75NTR mRNA was unaffected in both PCO and control rats. PCO ovaries displayed significantly higher amount of protein of α1a-, α1b- and α1d-ARs, and of p75NTR, compared to control rats, that were all counteracted by repeated low-frequency EA treatments, except for α1b-AR.The present study shows that EA normalizes most of the EV-induced changes in ovarian ARs. Furthermore, EA was able to prevent the EV-induced up regulation of p75NTR, probably by normalizing the sympathetic ovarian response to NGF action. Our data indicate a possible role of EA in the regulation of ovarian responsiveness to sympathetic inputs and depict a possible complementary therapeutic approach to overcoming sympathetic-related anovulation in women with PCOS.Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrine and metabolic disorder recognized as the primary cause of infertility in women of the reproductive age [1]. The syndrome is associated with ovulatory dysfunction, abdominal obesity, hyperandrogenism, and profound insulin resistance [1].The precise etiology of the disease is unknown, even though the disturbances detected in PCOS has been attributed to primary defects in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the ovarian microenvironment, the adrenal gland, and the insulin/insulin-like growth facto