Preincubation of human granulosa cells with gonadotrophin prevents the cloprostenol-induced inhibition of progesterone production

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Human granulosa cells, from women undergoing ovum collection for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), will luteinize in vitro and provide a model for investigating the antigonadotrophic action of a prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) analogue, cloprostenol, on granulosa-derived luteal cells. The granulosa cells were cultured in a defined medium and exposed to treatments during a preincubation period of 0 to 3 days and a final incubation with low density lipoprotein (LDL) from days 3 to 4. In the absence of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), progesterone production was low, whereas exposure to HCG in the final incubation resulted in a 10-fold increase in progesterone concentrations. The inclusion of cloprostenol with HCG in the final incubation significantly (P less than 0.05) inhibited HCG-stimulated progesterone production. Exposure to HCG during the preincubation prevented the antigonadotrophic action of cloprostenol in the final incubation. The antigonadotrophic action of cloprostenol was retained when the granulosa cells were exposed to cloprostenol during the preincubation. Omission of LDL from the final incubation lowered the production of progesterone but the pattern of responses to HCG and cloprostenol were similar. Prevention of the antigonadotrophic action of cloprostenol after exposure to HCG may be a mechanism through which chorionic gonadotrophin can prevent regression of the corpus luteum in early pregnancy. Cloprostenol does not appear to inhibit LDL-stimulated steroidogenesis in human granulosa cells.