Former Demas lab undergraduate student Kim Long’s manuscript on the effects of acute immune activation on kisspeptin-induced reproductive hormone release was recently published in the Journal of Experimental Biology! Kim conducted this research for her undergraduate honors thesis and was mentored by former Demas lab graduate students Alison Bailey and Tim Greives. In this study, Kim showed that a single treatment of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is sufficient to block kisspeptin-induced increases in circulating testosterone levels, but does not affect circulating luteinizing hormone levels. Together, Kim’s findings suggest that acute LPS exposure rapidly reduces gonadal sensitivity to HPG stimulation which, in turn, inhibits gonadal steroid release.
A link to the manuscript can be found under the “Publications” page and can also be accessed here.
Image credit: Wahab et al. 2018 (Frontiers in Endocrinology)
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