title: Steroid synthesis in ovarian homogenates from immature mice treated with diethylstilboestrol in neonatal life.
abstract: Female mice of the NMRI strain were treated with the synthetic oestrogen diethylstilboestrol (DES) for the first 5 days after birth. Pools of ovaries were removed from groups of 6-, 12-, 21-, 28- and 56-day-old females. An homogenate of an ovarian pool was incubated for 1 h in the presence of [3H]pregnenolone. Synthesized steroids were extracted and separated in a two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography system. Homogeneity of tentative steroids was verified with recrystallization to constant specific activity. Synthesis of [3H]progesterone and [3H]testosterone was demonstrated at 6 days, [3H]androstenedione at 12 days, [3H]17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone at 21 days, and [3H]oestradiol-17 beta at 28 days. Up to 28 days (21 days for progesterone), the synthetic activity was lower in homogenates of DES-exposed ovaries than in control homogenates. After 28 days, values for recovered [3H]progesterone, [3H]androstenedione and [3H]oestradiol-17 beta were higher in DES homogenates than in control homogenates while the reverse was true for [3H]17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and [3H]testosterone. The results are compatible with an early and direct DES inhibitory effect on ovarian steroidogenesis and, later in immature life, a DES-induced disruption of the normal FSH-LH stimulation of ovarian development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halling
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Forsberg
mesh_terms: D019326:17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000818:Animals; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006908:Hydroxyprogesterones / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010053:Ovary / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013739:Testosterone / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D006908:Hydroxyprogesterones; D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol; D019326:17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol