title: The effects of sex steroid hormones on the pigment accumulation in the shell gland of Japanese quail.
abstract: Effects of sex steroid hormones on the accumulation of the superficial pigment of the eggshell in the quail shell gland were investigated. In Experiment 1, 10 or 20 mg/100 g BW of aminoglutethimide (AG) was injected s.c. into laying quail hens 10 h before the expected ovulation. Thirty percent of the hens that received 10 mg/100 g BW and 87% of the hens that received 20 mg/100 g BW failed to ovulate. They had significantly (P < .01) lower concentrations of preovulatory plasma progesterone (P) than the control hens and showed significantly (P < .05) low concentrations of plasma estradiol-17 beta (E) and small amounts of the pigment in their shell glands after oviposition of the preceding egg. In Experiment 2, AG (20 mg/100 g BW) was administered s.c. to quail hens 10 h before the expected ovulation, followed by the administration of P (.05, .1, or .2 mg/100 g BW), E (.1, .2, or 1.0 mg/100 g BW), or testosterone (T) (.5 mg/100 g BW). Significant increases in the accumulated pigment 18 h after oviposition of the preceding egg were found when P was injected. However, administration of E and T had no influence on pigment accumulation. These results suggested that P might affect the accumulation of pigment in the quail shell gland.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soh
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Koga
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003370:Coturnix / Q000502:physiology*; D004528:Egg Shell / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D010058:Oviposition / Q000502:physiology; D010060:Ovulation / Q000502:physiology; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D010860:Pigments, Biological