| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
INVITED REVIEW
1Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003; and 2Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Division of Endocrinology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215
Natural selection has linked the physiological controls of energy balance and fertility such that reproduction is deferred during lean times, particularly in female mammals. In this way, an energetically costly process is confined to periods when sufficient food is available to support pregnancy and lactation. Even in the face of abundance, nutritional infertility ensues if energy intake fails to keep pace with expenditure. A working hypothesis is proposed in which any activity or condition that limits the availability of oxidizable fuels (e.g., undereating, excessive energy expenditure, diabetes mellitus) can inhibit both gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)/luteinizing hormone secretion and female copulatory behaviors. Decreases in metabolic fuel availability appear to be detected by cells in the caudal hindbrain. Hindbrain neurons producing neuropeptide Y (NPY) and catecholamines (CA) then project to the forebrain where they contact GnRH neurons both directly and also indirectly via corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons to inhibit GnRH secretion. In the case of estrous behavior, the best available evidence suggests that the inhibitory NPY/CA system acts primarily via CRH or urocortin projections to various forebrain loci that control sexual receptivity. Disruption of these signaling processes allows normal reproduction to proceed in the face of energetic deficits, indicating that the circuitry responds to energy deficits and that no signal is necessary to indicate that there is an adequate energy supply. While there is a large body of evidence to support this hypothesis, the data do not exclude nutritional inhibition of reproduction by other pathways and processes, and the full story will undoubtedly be more complex than this.
luteinizing hormone; estrous behavior; corticotropin-releasing hormone; neuropeptide Y; hindbrain
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. Wu, I. Dumalska, E. Morozova, A. van den Pol, and M. Alreja Melanin-concentrating hormone directly inhibits GnRH neurons and blocks kisspeptin activation, linking energy balance to reproduction PNAS, October 6, 2009; 106(40): 17217 - 17222. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. A. Hagobian, C. G. Sharoff, B. R. Stephens, G. N. Wade, J. E. Silva, S. R. Chipkin, and B. Braun Effects of exercise on energy-regulating hormones and appetite in men and women Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, February 1, 2009; 296(2): R233 - R242. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. Huang, M. Acosta-Martinez, T. H. Horton, and J. E. Levine Fasting-induced suppression of LH secretion does not require activation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, December 1, 2008; 295(6): E1439 - E1446. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Zhang, M. A. Bosch, J. E. Levine, O. K. Ronnekleiv, and M. J. Kelly Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Neurons Express KATP Channels That Are Regulated by Estrogen and Responsive to Glucose and Metabolic Inhibition J. Neurosci., September 19, 2007; 27(38): 10153 - 10164. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. M. Chagas, J. J. Bass, D. Blache, C. R. Burke, J. K. Kay, D. R. Lindsay, M. C. Lucy, G. B. Martin, S. Meier, F. M. Rhodes, et al. Invited Review: New Perspectives on the Roles of Nutrition and Metabolic Priorities in the Subfertility of High-Producing Dairy Cows J Dairy Sci, September 1, 2007; 90(9): 4022 - 4032. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. J Todd, G. S Fraley, A. C Peck, G. J Schwartz, and A. M Etgen Central Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Receptors Play Distinct Roles in the Control of Reproduction, Food Intake, and Body Weight in Female Rats Biol Reprod, September 1, 2007; 77(3): 492 - 503. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. L. Sorenson, L. E. Stout, T. C. Brelje, T. L. Jetton, and F. M. Matschinsky Immunohistochemical Evidence for the Presence of Glucokinase in the Gonadotropes and Thyrotropes of the Anterior Pituitary Gland of Rat and Monkey J. Histochem. Cytochem., June 1, 2007; 55(6): 555 - 566. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 The ESHRE Capri Workshop Group Nutrition and reproduction in women Hum. Reprod. Update, May 1, 2006; 12(3): 193 - 207. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. L. Seymour, S. L. Dettloff, J. E. Jones, and G. N. Wade Corticotropin-releasing factor receptor subtypes mediating nutritional suppression of estrous behavior in Syrian hamsters Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, August 1, 2005; 289(2): R418 - R423. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. A. Cupples Physiological regulation of food intake Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, June 1, 2005; 288(6): R1438 - R1443. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |
