Oestrogen-dependent regulation of neurons and a neurotransmitter named after a chocolate
It is well known that women tend to console themselves with a piece of chocolate. The work of Erik Hrabovszky and his team could help to find a cure for infertility, the biggest sorrow for many women, by unravelling the role of a peptid named after a chocolate.
While continents and huge countries are doing everything from education to regulation and legislation to combat the continuing rise in population, in a far from happier but definitely richer part of the world, more and more people are struggling to have children. There are a thousand and one reasons why they have to struggle. Although endometriosis, with its painful symptoms, is probably the most commonly known nowadays, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), where overstimulated ovaries are the cause of infertility, is also a frequent reason. These two - unfortunately common - conditions are also among the puzzles to be solved in the broad field of fertility research.
But let's talk more about this with Erik Hrabovszky, an international authority on neuroendocrinology, whom we spoke to in connection with their paper in the prestigious PNAS*.