Estrogen Calms Cell Stress in Sheep Ovary Cells

Estrogen is a key hormone in female reproduction. It also fights inflammation. Researchers used sheep theca cells to see how it works. They added a bacterial toxin called LPS to damage the cells.

The hormone boosted cell survival after the toxin. It also protected the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Markers of stress like CHOP and phosphorylated PERK dropped. The same happened for IRE1α and ATF6.

Estrogen cut down the pyroptosis pathway. Levels of GSDMD, NLRP3 and active caspase‑1 fell sharply. When a chemical that blocks ER stress was added, CHOP and GSDMD went down even more.

The data point to a CHOP‑NLRP3‑caspase‑1‑GSDMD chain. Targeting this chain could help treat ovarian immune problems. The study hints that balancing hormones may improve reproductive health.