Gonadal function improving agents

Abstract

Metastin, compounds that promote the activity of metastin or its receptors and the like are excellent gonadal function improving agents, ovulation inducers or promoters, gonadotropic hormone secretion promoters, gonadotropic hormone secretion inhibitors, sex hormone secretion promoters, sex hormone secretion inhibitors, etc., and can be used as agents for preventing / treating sterility, hormone-sensitive cancers, endometriosis, etc. Metastin and its receptors are useful for screening for these pharmaceuticals.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to gonadal function improving agents. More particularly, the present invention relates to agents for preventing / treating sterility, ovulation inducers or promoters, gonadotropin secretion promoters or inhibitors, sex hormone secretion promoters or inhibitors, agents for preventing / treating hormone-sensitive cancers, and screening for these agents, diagnosis for sterility, and so on.BACKGROUND ART[0002]Increased rates of infertility accompanied by the delay in age at marriage and declining birthrates have been global problems in advanced countries of the day. It is likely that interest in sterility treatment will continue to grow more and more in the future.[0003]Treatment of sterility due to disorders of ovulation in women involves stimulation of follicular development by recombinant FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) or human menopausal gonadotropins (hMG preparations), induction of ovulation by human chorionic gonadotropins...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]Under the present circumstances, the present inventors made extensive investigations and have thus found that human metastin has a gonadotropin release-promoting effect, a gonadal function improving effect, an ovulation promoting effect, etc. The inventors have further clarified that ovulation by metastin is a phenomenon of ovulation mediated by normal differentiation of estrogen-producing granulosa cells into progesterone-producing luteal cells, and continuous administration of metastin reduces the release of gonadotropins and production of testosterone in the testis. As a result of further studies, the inventors have come to accomplish the present invention.

[0058](28a) A method of preventing / treating a hormone-sensitive cancer or endometriosis, which comprises administering to a mammal an effective dose of (i) a polypeptide comprising the same or substantially the same amino acid sequence as the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1, or a salt thereof, (ii) a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide or a salt thereof, (iii) a compound or its salt that promotes the activity of said polypeptide or a salt thereof, (iv) a compound or its salt that promotes the activity of a protein comprising the same or substantially the same amino acid sequence as the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 20, its partial peptide, or a salt thereof, or (v) a compound or its salt that promotes the activation of said polypeptide or a salt thereof into said protein, its partial peptide, or a salt thereof, which dose is sufficient to give a preventive / therapeutic effect on the hormone-sensitive cancer or endometriosis.

Problems solved by technology

Increased rates of infertility accompanied by the delay in age at marriage and declining birthrates have been global problems in advanced countries of the day.

With expanding hMG-hCG therapy, patients with developed complications increased, which has become a clinically serious problem.

In its severe form, ovarian enlargement and ascites occur, and may be even life-threatening for patients.

However, when its causes are found in reproductive functions such as disorder of sperm producing function, ejaculatory dysfunction, etc., any effective treatment has hardly been established.

Since the actual mechanism for the onset of OHSS remains elusive, women with severe infertility should be given hMG-hCG therapy, etc., OHSS is considered an unavoidable disease in the current fertility treatment.

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