The Effects Of Metformin And Diabinese On Female Sex Hormone Of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients
[UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN TEACHING HOSPITAL (UITH), ILORIN, KWARA STATE]

The female genital system consists of internal organs which include ovaries, uterine tubes, uterus and vagina. And the external organs are the peritoneum and the vulva. This system is located deep within the pelvic cavity and consists essentially of two parts: a glandular body, the ovary, where the oocytes are formed and steroids synthesized and extended duct system which successively takes on the names of uterine (fallopian) tube, uterus and vagina (Burger,2012). These tubes serve a dual purpose of providing a channel for ejaculated sperm to swim up into the peritoneal cavity and to bring either a fertilized or unfertilized egg down to the uterus and eventually out of the body at parturition or menses. The uterine tube is a simple duct that collects the oocyte on the ovarian surface and leads it to the uterus. The uterus is responsible for housing and feeding the fertilized egg during its development and, once it is mature, expelling the fetus outside the female body. The vagina gives way to the fetus and placenta during labor, but is also an organ of copulation, which receives the penis and semen during intercourse. The inferior vagina ends in the vulva, which is formed by a set of organs of varying nature (dermal and erectile tissues), connecting it external to the body. An adnexal system is adjoined to the ovary, ducts, and vulva: This adnexa consists of various glands, developed around the lower end of the vagina and urethra, as well as muscles, membranes and fascia comprising the perineum. The female reproductive system (or female genital system) serves multiple functions. Firstly, it is responsible for producing the eggs necessary for reproduction, thus facilitating the occurrence of reproduction. In addition, it produces the female sex hormones that maintain the reproductive cycle and that play a direct or indirect role elsewhere in the body. (Bhavnani et al., 2010).
2.6    ESTROGEN
Estrogen, or oestrogen, is the primary female sex hormone as well as a medication. It is responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics (Ryan, 2008). There are three major endogenous estrogens in women that have estrogenic hormonal activity: estrone, estradiol, and estriol. The estrane steroid estradiol is the most potent and prevalent of these (Ryan, 2008).
Estrogens are synthesized in all vertebrates as well as some insects. Their presence in both vertebrates and insects suggests that estrogenic sex hormones have an ancient evolutionary history (Mechoulamet al., 2015). The three major naturally occurring forms of estrogen in women are estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3). Another type of estrogen called estetrol (E4) is produced only during pregnancy. Quantitatively, estrogens circulate at lower levels than androgens in both men and women (Burger, 2012). While estrogen levels are  significantly lower in males compared to females, estrogens nevertheless also have important physiological roles in males (Lombardi et al., 2011).
Like all steroid hormones, estrogens readily diffuse across the cell membrane. Once inside the cell, they bind to and activate estrogen receptors (ERs) which in turn modulate the expression of many genes (Whitehead and Nussey, 2011). Additionally, estrogens bind to and activate rapid-signaling membrane estrogen receptors (mERs), such as G protein-coupled estrogen receptors (GPR30) (Prossnitz et al., 2007;Micevych and Kelly, 2012; Soltysik and Czekaj, 2013).