The potential role of intraovarian factors on ovarian androgen production.

The circuit of gonadotropins (FSH, LH) and ovaries (theca and granulosa cells) in ovarian estrogen and androgen production is well established. Recent research has revealed an intraovarian network that may ultimately prove relevant to the understanding of ovarian hyperandrogenism. Most of these substances, such as growth factors and cytokines, do not have independent effects on basal androgen production, but exhibit their regulatory potential by modulating hCG- or LH-stimulated steroid production. Precise understanding of the regulatory role of intraovarian factors in ovarian androgen production would shed new light on the pathophysiology and therapy of hyperandrogenemic excess in women.