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[Progesterone and its receptor in male reproduction]
Jun-Jie Cheng1, Chun-Hui Gu, Wen-Jun Liang
1Reproductive Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130041, China.
Abstract:
Progesterone, as a female hormone, plays an important role in the physiological function and pregnancy maintenance in women. Recent studies show that progesterone and its receptor are also involved in male reproduction, and its receptor mRNA exists in male sexual glands. It is believed that progesterone, binding to its receptor, can regulate spermatogenesis and improve the fertilization of sperm, while the sperm from those with oligospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratospermia or unexplained infertility exhibit a low fertility due to the deficient expression of the progesterone receptor and insensitive reaction to progesterone. This review focuses on the progress in the studies of progesterone and its receptor in male reproduction.
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