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What's NEW with Inhibins and
Activins?
Inhibin.com is intended to act as a
forum for new ideas and discoveries in clinical research
in the rapidly growing fields of Inhibins and Activins.
Since the discovery of this sub-family of molecules
there is growing interest in how their detection and
quantification can be of clinical use in the diagnosis
and management of, inter alia, reproductive disorders.
Inhibin.com aims to present the expanding field in a
digestible manner and welcomes reports from those both
routinely using Inhibin measurements and those seeking
to expand our understanding.
In the last few years, the measurement of Inhibin A
and B has become routine in many laboratories in many
different countries. This has strengthened the diagnosis
of fertility disorders and in prenatal investigations in
adults as well as a growing interest in pediatrics.
Better information gives greater control and confidence
to the physician and the patient. We have come a long
way since the birth of Louise Brown.
At the same time, research has become more detailed
and sophisticated. The molecular approach has revealed
the expression of alpha and beta subunits in a wider
range of tissues than might have been expected. This
together with the greater understanding of receptor
mechanisms is strengthening the view that Activin (with
Follistatin) may be the more complex partner in the
pairing. Perhaps local measurements of Activin and of
its different forms will prove to be more clinically
useful than Inhibin in the longer term.
We welcome your comments & suggestions,
discussion and views on current research is of
particular interest; please feel free to contact
us.
FUTURE
This website will eventually
include information for physicians &
patients, as additional data for clinical
applications of Inhibin becomes available.
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