Steroid synthesis in ovarian homogenates from hypophysectomized adult female mice treated with diethylstilbestrol in neonatal life.
Eight-week-old female NMRI-mice treated with 5 micrograms diethylstilbestrol (DES) or vehicle (olive oil) from d 1 to 5 after birth were hypophysectomized or sham operated. Thirty days after the operation, homogenates were prepared from the ovaries and incubated at 37 degrees C in the presence of [3H]pregnenolone for 1 h. In parallel experiments ovaries were taken for histology. In control ovaries regressing corpora lutea were still present 4 wk after hypophysectomy (Hx). Ovaries from DES females had no corpora lutea, but showed degeneration of the pre-Hx hypertrophic interstitial tissue. Steroids synthesized during the incubation were extracted and separated in a two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography system. After Hx, the amount of extractable [3H]testosterone, [3H]progesterone, and [3H]androstenedione recovered from homogenates of vehicle-treated females increased, but the amount of recovered [3H]-17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone was not significantly altered. In contrast, in DES-treated females Hx significantly decreased levels of [3H]androstenedione and [3H]-17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, but did not affect [3H]progesterone or [3H]testosterone. The persistent difference in steroid synthetic activity after Hx could be linked to the difference in morphology between different ovarian tissue compartments of control and DES-treated females.
Halling
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A
Department of Anatomy, University of Lund, Sweden.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism*; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D006062:Gonadotropins / Q000378:metabolism; D007016:Hypophysectomy; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010053:Ovary / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D013256:Steroids / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D006062:Gonadotropins; D013256:Steroids; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone