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Editorial: Advances Relevant to Women’s Health

Endocrinology is a broad and ever-expanding scientific discipline that impacts human health in many ways. Within our own molecular subfield, the diversity and complexity of studies concerning endocrine cell function are increasing. An impressive array of experimental approaches and biological systems is being used to investigate the intricate molecular communication system linking "secretions" from one of many "ductless glands" to their ultimate target organ(s). In addition, some of the many diseases that result from endocrine malfunction are now approachable through revolutionary therapeutic maneuvers that are rapidly emerging from recent developments in genomics and biotechnology.

In an effort to help the public as well as its own members appreciate and understand the diverse scope and pervasive impact of the field, The Endocrine Society plans to use its annual meeting to highlight important advances in discrete areas covered by our broad discipline. With this in mind, the 1999 annual meeting of The Endocrine Society will feature a special emphasis on basic and clinical advances relevant to women’s health, including issues such as reproduction, contraception, menopause and hormone replacement, and breast cancer. To increase the impact of this special emphasis, all four Endocrine Society journals were encouraged to devote their June 1999 issues to the same theme.

The editors responded to this request in two ways: by soliciting research articles and by inviting minireviews that emphasize advances in areas of molecular endocrinology pertinent to women’s health, especially in the area of reproduction. We were fortunate to receive many basic research papers – more than we have space for in the June issue. These articles were subjected to our normal peer-review process. As a result, manuscripts bearing on this area will appear in this as well as in subsequent issues.

The articles in this month’s issue cover a variety of endocrine systems and molecular mechanisms, all of which relate to women’s health.

Of particular note, there has been continued progress in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying steroid/nuclear receptor action. There have also been advances in the definition of an increasing number of other signaling systems, including G protein-coupled receptors and tyrosine kinase receptors, and their burgeoning legion of intracellular mediators. Equally impressive is the application of the knowledge of these mechanisms to enhance our understanding of several endocrine diseases, including polycystic ovarian syndrome and tumors of the breast and ovary, as well as the maintenance of pregnancy and chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Increasingly sophisticated experimental approaches continue to evolve for exploring molecular mechanisms, and several noteworthy methods, including ribozymes, homologous recombination, and adenovirus delivery systems, are represented in this issue.

The minireviews were invited to highlight six women’s health-related themes selected by the editors: steroid receptors and breast cancer; polycystic ovarian syndrome; pregnancy and the role of the PRL family of hormones; interactions between growth factors/cytokines and steroid hormones that impact the skeleton; regulation of angiogenic growth by steroids; and the genetic basis of fertility and infertility. We are very pleased with the authors’ responses to our invitations. We hope the minireviews will complement the research articles in bringing the women’s health theme into focus, not only as a retrospective of recent work but also in pointing the way for future studies.

In preparing this thematic issue, we have become even more convinced of the value of minireviews. We are therefore planning to begin the millennium by incorporating one minireview per issue. Our aim is to continue to highlight progress in discrete areas of endocrinology and contributions to basic and clinical advances in human biology and health. We welcome your ideas and input regarding this feature and others that you would like to see in the pages of Molecular Endocrinology.

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