In a placebo controlled, double blind crossover study natural progesterone was given by mouth, in increasing doses, to six men and four postmenopausal women with mild to moderate hypertension who were not receiving any other antihypertensive drugs. When compared with values recorded before treatment and during administration of placebo progesterone caused a significant reduction in blood pressure, suggesting that progesterone has an antihypertensive action rather than a hypertensive one as has been previously thought. This possible protective effect of progesterone should be investigated further.
PMID 3917316 3917316 DOI 10.1136/bmj.290.6461.13 10.1136/bmj.290.6461.13
Cite this article
Rylance, P. B., Brincat, M., Lafferty, K., De Trafford, J. C., Brincat, S., Parsons, V., & Studd, J. W. (1985). Natural progesterone and antihypertensive action. British medical journal (Clinical research ed.), 290(6461), 13-14. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.290.6461.13
Rylance PB, Brincat M, Lafferty K, De Trafford JC, Brincat S, Parsons V, et al. Natural progesterone and antihypertensive action. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1985;290(6461):13-14. doi:10.1136/bmj.290.6461.13
Rylance, P. B., et al. "Natural progesterone and antihypertensive action." British medical journal (Clinical research ed.), vol. 290, no. 6461, 1985, pp. 13-14.
CommentThis case fits the criteria for mania listed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edition) and the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases.The association of mania and myxoedema must be very rare, and we can find no other reported case. 1-5The two usual psychiatric syndromes seen in myxoedema are, firstly, confusion and cognitive impairment resembling dementia, sometimes with clouding of consciousness; and, secondly, depressed mood with paranoid delusional ideas and often hallucinations.' 2 Irritability and violence are reported only in association with paranoid cases.2Our patient showed no psychiatric disorder until further metabolic disturbance was superimposed on his thyroid deficiency.After surgery he had a mental disturbance which may have been mild hypomania, which suggests that he may have been particularly susceptible to develop a mental disturbance from metabolic abnormality as an expression of his genetic predisposition indicated by the positive family history.We thank Professor J T Silverstone for his help and advice in preparing this report.
A double blind, randomised, crossover trial of oral micronised progesterone (two months) and placebo (two months) was conducted to determine whether progesterone alleviated premenstrual complaints. Twenty three women were interviewed premenstrually before treatment and in each month of treatment. They completed Moos's menstrual distress questionnaire, Beck et al's depression inventory, Spielberger et al's state anxiety inventory, the mood adjective checklist, and a daily symptom record. Analyses of data found an overall beneficial effect of being treated for all variables except restlessness, positive moods, and interest in sex. Maximum improvement occurred in the first month of treatment with progesterone. Nevertheless, an appreciably beneficial effect of progesterone over placebo for mood and some physical symptoms was identifiable after both one and two months of treatment. Further studies are needed to determine the optimum duration of treatment.
Spermatogenesis relies on the intricate interactions between testicular somatic cells and germ cells. While follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone (T) are considered pivotal regulatory factors in this process, the mechanisms by which these hormones regulate the spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) microenvironment via Sertoli cells during testicular development in roosters remain unclear. Here, we examined how FSH and T regulate Sertoli-cell proliferation and the expression of glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) during rooster testicular development. We observed that at 4 weeks of age, the seminiferous tubules of roosters were fully developed, accompanied by the migration of spermatocytes into the lumen. At this stage, both serum and testicular levels of FSH and T were elevated in parallel. In highly purified Sertoli cells cultures, FSH treatment (25-100 ng/mL) significantly promoted proliferation and cell-cycle progression, and induced GDNF protein expression in a time- and dose-dependent manner, with the strongest response observed at 75 ng/mL. Although T did not significantly affect Sertoli cell proliferation, it markedly upregulated GDNF protein expression via the androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathway. Specifically, T (0.1-0.4 ng/mL) increased GDNF without altering proliferation, and this effect was blunted by pharmacological AR blockade (enzalutamide), indicating AR dependence. Furthermore, combined treatment with FSH and T demonstrated a synergistic effect, amplifying the expression of GDNF protein. In vivo experiments revealed that subcutaneous FSH administration increased Sertoli-cell proliferative activity (PCNA) and testicular growth, whereas testosterone administration enhanced testicular GDNF expression. Notably, combined FSH+T treatment produced the highest testicular GDNF level among groups, consistent with a synergistic effect in vivo. These findings suggest that FSH drives the expansion of Sertoli cell numbers by promoting their proliferation and cell cycle progression, while testosterone enhances the functional maturation of Sertoli cells through the regulation of GDNF expression. The synergistic actions of these two hormones together optimize the spermatogenic microenvironment, providing novel insights into the hormonal regulation of male reproduction.
To evaluate the clinical relevance of serum progesterone levels on the day of frozen embryo transfer (FET) and the dose of vaginal progesterone gel (Crinone) used for early luteal phase support (LPS) in artificial-cycle frozen embryo transfer (AC-FET). This single-center retrospective study analyzed 342 AC-FET cycles in patients aged 18-45 at Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan (April 2018-December 2022). Women aged 18-45 years undergoing AC-FET were included; cycles with >3 prior failed FETs, major comorbidities, donor oocytes, or missing outcome data were excluded. Pregnancy outcomes were assessed per cycle. Crinone (90 mg or 180 mg daily) was administered for 5 days after endometrial thickness ≥7 mm and progesterone <1.5 ng/mL. Serum progesterone was measured on the day of FET. Clinical pregnancy rates based on gestational sac (CPR-S), fetal heartbeat (CPR-H), and live birth rate (LBR) were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) evaluated the predictive value of serum progesterone levels. Associations between study variables and pregnancy outcomes were assessed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression. Comparisons of pregnancy outcomes between the high- and low-dose Crinone groups were further conducted using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) to adjust for baseline differences between dosage groups. Serum progesterone levels demonstrated poor predictive performance for CPR-S, CPR-H, and LBR (AUC 0.541-0.559) and were not independently associated with pregnancy outcomes in multivariable analyses. After adjustment using inverse probability of treatment weighting, a higher Crinone dose (180 mg vs. 90 mg) was significantly associated with higher CPR-S (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.11-3.17; p = 0.020), CPR-H (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.24-3.59; p = 0.006), and LBR (OR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.31-3.38; p = 0.002). Serum progesterone levels measured on the day of FET did not predict pregnancy outcomes in AC-FET cycles using vaginal progesterone gel. A higher Crinone dose was associated with higher early clinical pregnancy rates compared with a lower dose.