They speak of a “great advance for women’s health and reproductive medicine.” Inserm researchers, the Hospital of the University of Lille and the University of Lille are on the path of therapeutic treatment to combat the symptoms of the SOPK, which is one of the main causes of female infertility, announce in a statement this Friday, April 11.
According to institute figures, Sopk or polycystic ovaries syndrome is a disease that affects “approximately 10%” of women. It is a hormonal imbalance that is characterized by the presence of many follicles, small cells contained in the ovaries, whose development is blocked.
This interruption leads to excessive production of male hormones, such as testosterone, which are usually little present in the female body. From this situation it can result from many simtpomas, the most frequent is ovulation disorders and, therefore, fertility.
Patients with SOPK may also suffer hyperandrogenism, marked by hyperpilosity, acne and hair loss, as well as metabolism disorders that can cause overweight. In more rare cases, they know the appearance of dark skin tasks, depressive trends, anxiety or even sleep apnea.
An antibody as a solution?
At this stage, no treatment can cure the disease, but it is possible to relieve symptoms. Inserm and Lille researchers have managed to return them and even avoid their appearance thanks to the development of an antibody for which they presented a patent.
For this, they worked on the effects of the Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), which occurs excessively by the follicles present in the ovaries in people with SOPK. First they realized that by administering large doses of AMH to mice at the beginning of their lives, they developed in symptoms of adulthood of Sopk, such as infertility.
This result is added to that of previous investigations that had shown that the exposure of the fetus to high levels of AMH during pregnancy also increased the risk of developing SOPK symptoms.
An upcoming test on adult women
According to these results, the researchers tried to block the activity of this AMH hormone, thanks to the development of an antibody, called Ha13. The results were clear: administered to mice before its 15th day, this antibody had a preventive effect, they did not develop the symptoms of vote in their adult life.
As for the adult mice suffering from these symptoms, the administration of antibodies to block the AMH made it possible to disappear.
“The cycles, ovulation and androgens rates have returned to normal, which probably suggests that fertility is improved,” said Paolo Giacobini, director of Insertm Research and the study.
To confirm the track of a new treatment, researchers want to reproduce this experience in adult women with this disease.
“Given the greatest impact of sopk on fertility and quality of life, this study represents an important advance for women’s health and reproductive medicine,” says Paolo Giacobini.
However, they did not plan to prove the administration of preventive antibodies in babies to block the AMH because the long -term effects of this blockage are not known at this stage.
Source: BFM TV
