Human granulosa-luteal cell response to vinblastine exposure in vitro

Abstract

We examined the response of isolated human granulosa-luteal cells (HGLCs) to a cancer chemotherapeutic agent, vinblastine (VLB), that has been implicated in ovarian failure during treatment for Hodgkin's disease. VLB doses of 1.0 micrograms/mL for 4 h or 0.1 micrograms/mL for 24 h reduced HGLC progesterone production during exposure. The effect of high doses (10.0 and 100.0 micrograms/mL) persisted for at least 1 day after exposure. Previous 24 h, but not 4 h, high-dose VLB exposure reduced subsequent progesterone release in response to 10 IU of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Without hCG stimulation, only cells previously exposed to 100.0 micrograms/mL had persistently reduced progesterone release. We conclude that HGLCs can completely recover from a short exposure to VLB, but longer exposures to 10.0 and 100.0 micrograms/mL are detrimental to their hormone secreting capacity.