Nearly 10 years after its discovery in birds, neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have established that humans also make the hormone, GnIH, that puts brake on reproduction.
“Identifying the inhibitory hormone — gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH)— in humans forces us to revise our understanding of the control mechanism of human reproduction,” said lead author Takayoshi Ubuka.
“We hope this will stimulate clinical studies on people with precocious puberty or in the area of contraception.”
The GnIH has the opposite effect from gonadotropin releasing hormone, a key reproductive hormone. While GnRH triggers a cascade of hormones that prime the body for sex and procreation, GnIH also puts a brake on the cascade.
Because reproductive hormones often promote the growth of cancer cells, GnIH might also work as an anti-cancer agent.
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