Stress Regulation of Kisspeptin in the Modulation of Reproductive Function - Kisspeptin Signaling in Reproductive Biology - page 420

Chapter 20
Stress Regulation of Kisspeptin
in the Modulation of Reproductive Function
Pasha Grachev , Xiao Feng Li , and Kevin O'Byrne
Abstract Stressful stimuli abound in modern society and have shaped evolution
through altering reproductive development, behavior, and physiology. The recent
identifi cation of kisspeptin as an important component of the hypothalamic regula-
tory circuits involved in reproductive homeostasis sparked a great deal of research
interest that subsequently implicated kisspeptin signaling in the relay of metabolic,
environmental, and physiological cues to the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis.
However, although it is widely recognized that exposure to stress profoundly
impacts on reproductive function, the roles of kisspeptin within the complex mecha-
nisms underlying stress regulation of reproduction remain poorly understood. We
and others have recently demonstrated that a variety of experimental stress para-
digms downregulate the expression of kisspeptin ligand and receptor within the
reproductive brain. Coincidently, these stressors also inhibit gonadotropin secretion
and delay pubertal onset—processes that rely on kisspeptin signaling. However, a
modest literature is inconsistent with an exclusively suppressive infl uence of stress
on the reproductive axis and suggests that complicated neural interactions and sig-
naling mechanisms translate the stress response into reproductive perturbations.
The purpose of this chapter is to review the evidence for a novel role of kisspeptin
signaling in the modulation of reproductive function by stress and to broaden the
understanding of this timely phenomenon.
P. Grachev • X. F. Li
Division of Women's Health, School of Medicine,
King's College London, London , UK
e-mail: [e-mail]
K. O'Byrne ( * )
Division of Women's Health, King's College London,
2.92 W Hodgkin Building, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL , UK
e-mail: [e-mail]