Characteristics of management of reproductive endocrine problems in female patients

In 1956, my former Head and Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology KT LIM, asked me to take the initiative to establish a reproductive endocrinology unit. As China is a developing country, we were then short of diagnostic facilities and therapeutic agents. We can learn basic knowledge and clinical experiences from the literature, but hormonal preparations were expensive and generally most of our patients were poor. We needed to find simpler, inexpensive and yet effective ways to treat our patients. In a word, we had to develop our own way.……

Effect of Acupoint Catgut-Embedding on the Quality of Life,Reproductive Endocrine and Bone Metabolism of Postmenopausal Women

Objective： To observe the influence of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy on the quality of life （QOL）,the reproductive endocrine and bone metabolism of postmenopausal women.Methods：AA ttoottaall of 65 women with climacteric syndrome were enrolled and randomly assigned to two groups,thirty-three in the treatment group on whom acupoint catgut-embedding was performed with Shenshu （BL23）,Sanyinjiao （SP6） and Guanyuan （CV4） as main acupoints,and thirty-two in the control group who were only medicated with Fufuchun Capsule （妇复春胶囊））..The treatment course for both groups was 3 months.Before and aafftteerr treatment,the clinical symptoms,the QOL score,serum follicle stimulating hormone （FSH）,luteinizing hormone （LH）,eessttrraaddiiooll （（EE 2 ）,testosterone （T）,osteocalcin （BGP）,parathyroid hormone （PTH）,,ccaallcciittoonniinn （CT） aaannnddd alkaline phosphatase （AKP） were measured.In addition,another 28 women with childbearing potential and normal regular menstrual cycle were selected and the reproductive endocrine hormone were tested in the ovulatory period as controls.Results： The levels of serum FSH and LH of postmenopausal women were higher,and serum E 2 and T were lower than those of normal women （P〈00..0011））..After treatment,the levels of serum EE 2 in both groups and T in the treatment group were increased,while in the control group the serum E 2 increase was more significant than that in the treatment group （P〈0.05）,and serum T showed no statistical difference.The levels of serum FSH,LH,BGP,CT,PTH and AKP were reduced significantly in both groups after treatment （P〈00..0055））..The QOL scores were increased remarkably in both groups on physiological functioning,bbooddiillyy pain,general health,vitality,and mental health after treatment （P〈00..0055））,,but the improvement of bodily ppaaiinn and mental health in the treatment group were better than those in the control group （P〈0.01）.There was no significant difference in the therapeutic effect between the two groups after treatment （P〉00..0055））..Conclusions： Acupoint catgut-embedding showed an obvious effect on climacteric syndrome,and enhanced the QOL in postmenopausal women.The therapy could regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis to raise the serum E 2 level which may be significant in preventing and curing the osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

Temperature effect on luteinizing hormone secretion of Eurasian Skylark(Alauda arvensis) and Great Tit(Parus major) in China

Background: Global warming caused trophic mismatch has affected the breeding success, and even the survival, of some bird species.The ability of birds to accelerate their reproduction onset in the warmer spring could be critical to the survival of some species.The activation of the reproductive endocrine axis in birds is a key physiological process that determines the onset of reproduction.Could birds change the HPG axis endocrine rhythm under the temperature rising condition?Methods: Using plasma LH level as an indicator of initiation of the reproductive endocrine and artificially controlling temperature, we compared variations in the timing of activation of the reproductive endocrine axis in response to temperature in two Chinese bird species, the Eurasian Skylark(Alauda arvensis) and the Great Tit(Parus major) at both the population and individual levels.Results: At the population level, temperature only significantly influenced LH level in the Eurasian Skylark, and had no significant effect on the LH levels in the Great Tit.Mean LH level of Eurasian Skylarks in the 20 ℃ group was higher than that of those in the 15 ℃ group throughout the experiment.Large individual variations in the timing of peak LH levels were observed in the high and the low temperature groups of both Eurasian Skylarks and Great Tits.Conclusions: These results indicate that the effects of temperature differ among species.Meanwhile, there appears to be a degree of within population polymorphism in the timing of reproductive endocrine axis activation in some species.This polymorphism could provide the variation required for bird populations to cope with the possible change of their food peak under the climate warming condition.