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Discovery in Mice May Help With Treatment of
Infertility in Women
Brief Description:
Research from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
suggests that women who lack a particular gene may need to seek alternative
forms of fertility treatment, if they want to have children.
Transcript:
Thornton: A recent study at the National Institute of Environmental Health
and Sciences NIEHS suggests that women who lack the gene known as "estrogen
receptor beta" may need to seek alternative forms of fertility
treatment if they desire to have children. NIEHS researchers found
that mice lacking this receptor are less likely to get pregnant. Dr.
John Couse, the study's lead author, explains.
Couse: What we found
in the mice that lack the estrogen receptor beta is that they do
not get pregnant as often as we would expect and when they do get pregnant
the number of offspring that they have, usually mice will have anywhere
from six to eight offspring in one pregenacy, these mice the ones
that
lack estrogen receptor beta will usually have maybe three if they
get pregnant at all. The later study that just came out was focused on
trying to see if we could rescue or improve that animal's fertility
by giving them the same fertility drugs that we routinely use in
women
seeking fertility treatment. And what we found is that the mice do
not respond to those same drugs.
Thornton: The study showed that
estrogen receptor beta plays a crucial role by moving the egg outside
of the
ovary so it can be fertilized. If the results of this study turn
out to be applicable to humans, a simple blood test could provide enough
information to determine if a woman's inability to conceive is
a result
of genetic mutation. From the National Institutes of Health, I'm
Matt Thornton reporting from Bethesda, Maryland.
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