UK receives NIH funding for studies on ovulation

Researchers at UK recently received six million dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health to study the physiological triggers of ovulation in humans and other mammals.

Ovulation refers to the point in a woman’s menstrual cycle when fertilization of an egg can occur.

According to an article on UKNow by information specialist Elizabeth Adams, learning exactly why the egg is released could help create new treatments for infertility or potentially develop female contraceptives that do not contain steroids, which can cause side effects in some users.

The NIH funds will actually support four studies taking place at UK, the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Urbana-Champaign, Eastern Virginia Medical School and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said Thomas Curry, a reproductive endocrinologist in UK Healthcare’s department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the principal investigator in UK’s project.

The locations will study individual aspects of ovulation, including changes in the blood supply, immune system, steroid production and bodily tissues that support cells.

The complementary studies will combine at the end to increase overall understanding of the ovulatory process. The multi-disciplinary teams will share research and conclusions.

Human follicles, which develop and release eggs, will be used in the studies. The project will be the first study wherein the physiological changes in ovulation and the luteal phase, the time period when pregnancy is physically possible right afterward, will be recorded.

The study is also unique in that after studying the human follicles, the researchers will apply their observations to animal models, Curry said in the article.

Monkey and rodent tissues will be used to apply their observations to the changes that occur in tissues. Human, monkey and rodent tissues will all be compared to understand the ovulatory process across features.

STAFF REPORT

[email protected]