“…Ovulation has been described as an inflammatory process where a series of events leads to proteolytic degradation of a specific point in the follicular wall to permit the release of the oocyte [Espey et al, 2004;Richards et al, 2008]. Glucocorticoids (GCs), which are stress-induced hormones, are synthesized under the control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and have been described as anti-inflammatory agents that act to modulate the production of cytokines and prostaglandins in the different reproductive processes: ovulation, luteolysis, embryo implantation, fetal growth and placental development [Hillier and Tetsuka, 1998;Andersen, 2002;Myers et al, 2007;Tetsuka, 2007;Duong et al, 2012;Kuse et al, 2013]. Therefore, cortisol, an active GC released in response to stress, could inhibit ovulation due to its local action as an anti-inflammatory agent at the ovulatory site [Vanholder et al, 2006].…”