Leydig cell tumours (LCTs) of the ovary are rare ovarian tumours that usually present with hyperandrogenism. Conventional radiological imagings are helpful in localising these tumours. However, some tumours may be too small to be localised before curative surgical removal. It is important to identify these androgen-secreting neoplasms which originate mostly from adrenals or ovaries because they are potentially malignant and require specific treatment. When conventional imagings are unrevealing, selective ovarian and adrenal venous sampling (SOAVS) is the next option. We report a case of LCT that was localised by SOAVS after results from other imaging modalities remained inconclusive.
This study evaluated the effects of the methanolic extract of Guibourtia tessmannii (GT) and selenium (Se) on cell viability, intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+ ]i ), apoptosis and oxidative stress through transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel activity in CCL-97 (R2C) tumour Leydig cells. The cells were divided into nine groups and treated as follows: (a)-Control, (b)-Capsazepine (CPZ, 0.1 mM, a TRPV1 channel blocker), (c)-Capsaicin (CAP, 0.01 mM, a TRPV1 channel activator), (d)-GT (500 μg/ml), (e)-GT+CPZ, (f)-GT+CAP, (g)-Se (200 nM), (h)-Se+CPZ and (i)-Se+CAP. After treatments, cell viability, [Ca2+ ]i , apoptosis, caspase 3/9, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane depolarisation (MMD) were evaluated. The [Ca2+ ]i , apoptosis, caspase 3/9, MMD and ROS levels were significantly (p Leydig cells. These results suggest that GT and Se might be used in the management of cytotoxicity in the testes, involving TRPV1 channel activity.