Effect of kisspeptin on reproductive function in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea

“无经期”指的是没有月经的女性，这种情况会导致不孕。在许多女性中，这个问题的原因是由于大脑中一个叫做下丘脑的部分出现了问题，这被称为下丘脑闭经。下丘脑闭经的原因尚不清楚，治疗有明显的副作用。最近在啮齿动物身上的证据表明，一种名为kisspeptin的新激素可能是女性下丘脑闭经中缺失的因素。对下丘脑闭经的啮齿动物给予kisspeptin可使其恢复正常月经和生育能力。患有下丘脑闭经的妇女不孕，骨质疏松和骨折的风险增加，这与疾病增加和早期死亡有关。不能生育往往是毁灭性的，并可能导致严重的抑郁，从而导致婚姻破裂。伦敦帝国理工学院代谢医学系的研究人员将在这一应用程序中进行研究。他们在研究新激素和肽的生理学方面有相当丰富的人体输注研究经验，并制定了确保可靠、安全地向人体输送剂量肽的方案。研究人员最近完成了kisspeptin在男性和女性中的首次人体输注研究，并表明它能刺激生殖激素的分泌。研究人员现在打算进行一项研究，对患有下丘脑闭经的妇女长期皮下注射kisspeptin，并研究这是否能恢复循环的生殖激素，恢复她们的月经和生育能力。

Amennorhea is the term used describe women who have no periods and this results in infertility. In many women the cause of the problem is due to a problem in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus and this is termed hypothalamic amenorrhea. The cause of hypothalamic amenorrhea is not known and treatments are associated with significant side effects. Recent evidence in rodents suggests that a new hormone called kisspeptin may be the missing factor in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea. Administration of kisspeptin to rodents with hypothalamic amenorrhea resulted in an increase in restoration of normal periods and fertility. Women with hypothalamic amenorrhea are infertile and have increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures, which is associated with increased illness and earlier death. The inability to have children is often devastating, and can result in severe depression which can lead to marital breakdown.Investigators in the Department of Metabolic Medicine at Imperial College London will be carrying out the research in this application. They have considerable experience of human infusion studies in order to investigate the physiology of novel hormones and peptides and have developed protocols that ensure reliable, safe delivery of a dose of peptide into humans. The investigators have recently completed the first human infusion studies of kisspeptin in males and females and shown that it stimulates reproductive hormone secretion. The investigators now intend to conduct a study to chronically administer subcutaneous kisspeptin to women with hypothalamic amenorrhea and investigate whether this can restore circulating reproductive hormones and restore their periods and fertility.