Testosterone is a steroid hormone that plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues. This hormone is also essential for promoting sexual characteristics like muscles, bone mass, and the well being of an individual. A new study suggests that a man’s susceptibility to serious health conditions is due to low exposure of testosterone in the womb. In response to these low testosterone levels, a man becomes less immune to problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Researchers
from the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health have shown that Leydig cells, which
are the cells that are responsible for testosterone in adults, come from an explicit
population of stem cells found in the testes. Through their research scientists
were able to find evidence of these stem cells in the developing testes of
rats, mice, and babies in the womb. If Leydig cells become impaired in their
stem cell stage, males in the womb are exposed to lower levels of testosterone.
Understanding
why some men have less testosterone than others can help their life-long health
and prevention of serious health conditions. However, this is the first study that
provides evidence for how a child’s events in the womb influence their health
in later life. In the future, more research will need to be done in order to
get a better grasp on how low testosterone levels and a mother’s lifestyle
impact a child in the womb. With this new information, doctors can give better
advice to pregnant women in order to enhance and protect the
health of their unborn child.
Posted by: Lindsey Janof (11)
Lindsey, I enjoyed this article! It is always interesting to read about prenatal development. I was just wondering, did the article mention what the cause of impairment in the stem cells was?
ReplyDelete-Posted by: Taylor Schille
Hi Taylor! The article didn't really say, however I did find information on Leydig cell hypoplasia. Basically, males do not respond to the LH hormone which signals Leydig cell development. Because of this males do not produce testosterone. Although this is a genetic disorder and not present in all men, it's the best reason I could find. I hope that was helpful!
DeletePosted by Lindsey Janof
Interesting read, I'm wondering if the damaged stem cells were caused by environmental factors or if they were genetic. Perhaps the mothers of the babies with damaged stem cells lacked some nutrient at a critical stage in fetal development.
ReplyDeletePosted by Tim Daly
Since this is the first experiment done, I am also interested to know if environmental factors could have any affect too. Mothers play a crucial role in the development of their child, and it would be interesting to see more research on this.
DeletePosted by Lindsey Janof
Interesting post! I was wondering, how do these leydig cells become impaired?
ReplyDelete-Samuel Ustayev