Ultrastructure of endometrium of postmenopausal patients on two modes of hormonal therapy: estrone sulfate with or without MPA

The response of human postmenopausal endometrium to standard, oral doses of an estrogen alone (estrone sulfate) and to an estrogen plus a progestin (medroxyprogesterone acetate; MPA) was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Endometrial biopsies were obtained over a 4-year period from 12 patients with well-established ovarian failure. Biopsies were taken before the initiation of therapy and during each mode of hormonal treatment. The ability of estrone sulfate alone to stimulate growth of the endometrium was shown during the 1st treatment cycle when the atrophic epithelial cells transformed into tall columnar cells which synthesized and released some secretory products. Unopposed estrogen therapy led to excessive ciliation and breakthrough bleeding. Addition of MPA to the estrone sulfate regimen produced a progestational endometrium. The epithelial cells had ultrastructural features of those in normal postovulatory endometrium, including nucleolar channel systems. MPA elicited deciliation and transformation of ciliated cells into secretory cells. Stromal cells hypertrophied, the vascular endothelium thickened, and bleeding subsided. Estrogen-progestin therapy as tremendously more physiological than unopposed estrogen therapy.

The effect of levonorgestrel and estrone rods on male reproductive function

The effect on spermatogenesis of the implantation of six rods containing levonorgestrel and three estrone rods was studied in seven volunteers aged 32-40, with normal pre-treatment spermiogram. None of the subjects achieved azoospermia. The lowest sperm count was below 1 million/ml in three subjects and below 12 million/ml in the other four. Plasma FSH and testosterone were severely depressed during the study, but LH was only transiently depressed for the first two months. Four subjects recovered pre-treatment sperm counts in spite of the FSH levels below 1.5 mIU/ml and testosterone levels below 1 ng/ml, which is contradictory to the current concept on hormonal regulation of spermatogenesis.

Studies on the effects of pharmacologic doses of cortisone acetate and several nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compounds on ovo-implantation, early pregnancy, and the deciduomal response in the rat

Cortisone acetate (10 mg/day), alone or in combination with progesterone (4 mg/day); progesterone (4 mg/day); progesterone (4 mg/day) plus estrone (1 microng/day); indomethacin (0.75 mg/day); phenylbutazone (20 mg/day); flufenamic acid (10 mg/day); and Compound 83161 (tetrazolo less than 1,5-alpha greater than s-triazolo less than 3,4-c greater than quinoxoline) (8 mg/day and 12 mg/day) were each given to intact rats during early pregnancy (days 1 and/or 2 through day 8). Only cortisone acetate treatment caused a true delay in ovo-implantation. Both progesterone treatment beginning on day 1 and cortisone acetate treatment beginning on day 1 or 2 caused an increased postimplantation fetal death rate. Compound 83161, at doses causing signs of general toxicity (12 mg/day), caused a marginal inhibition of implantation. Treatment with indomethacin, phenylbutazone, or flufenamic acid caused some inhibition of the traumatic deciduomal response in spayed rats treated with progesterone, while treatment with cortisone acetate and Compound 83161 did not.

Action of luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (lrf) in the initiation of lordosis behavior in the estrone-primed ovariectomized female rat

In order to evaluate the precise role of luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LRF) in mediating the onset of sexual behavior, the specificity, time-course, and dose-response relationship of LRF-facilitated lordosis behavior were determined. Ovariectomized female rats, pretreated with estrone and LRF, displayed a pattern of lordosis behavior which differed little from that produced by estrone-progesterone. Little if any lordosis behavior was observed in response to LRF alone, estrone alone, or estrone in combination with luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), or thyrotropin-releasing factor (TRF). Furthermore, LRF-induced lordosis behavior occurred in the absence of the adrenals, thus eliminating adrenal progesterone as a factor in facilitating the appearnce of lordosis behavior. The LRF-facilitated lordosis behavior was seen 2 h after the injection of LRF and was maintained for a total of 8 h. A minimal dose of 150 ng LRF was required to initiate the first consistent appearance of lordosis behavior; the maximum response was obtained with 500 ng. It is thus suggested that LRF is not only responsible for the ovulatory discharge of LH and subsequent ovulation, but may also play a role in the initiation of the onset of mating behavior in the female rat.

Effect of progesterone on the time of ovulation in immature rats pretreated with pregnant mare's serum gonadotrophin (PMSG)

The time of ovulation in immature rats primed with 3 IU PMSG on day 22 of age was between 1:00 and 4:00 a. m. on day 25 as determined by the presence of ova in the oviducts. When 0.5 mg progesterone was given at 10:00 a. m. on day 24, ovulation was between 1:00 and 2:00 a. m. on day 25. However, ovulation was advanced to 11:00 p. m. of day 24 when 0.5 or 2.0 mg progesterone was injected at 5:30 a. m. on day 24. In animals pretreated with 12 IU PMSG. ovulation occurred between 10:00 p. m. of day 24 and 2:00 a. m. of day 25 when the same steroid (2.0 mg) was given at 5:30 a. m. on day 24.

Ovulation was inhibited with 4.5 mg phenobarbital injected at 10:30 a. m. or 11:00 a. m. on day 24 in progesterone-injected rats which had been pretreated with 3 or 12 IU PMSG, respectively, indicating that the critical period has been shifted forward by 3 hours. The highest plasma LH occurred at 3:00 and 8:00 p. m. on day 24 in rats primed with 3 IU PMSG alone, whereas the highest plasma LH in rats injected with 3 IU PMSG and progesterone occurred at 10:00 a. m. and 3:00 p. m. of day 24, as determined by a modified method of the ovarian ascorbic acid depletion (OAAD) assay. It is concluded that progesterone advanced the time of ovulation by shifting forward the critical period and causing an adequate release of ovulatory gonadotrophins between 10:00 a. m. and 3:00 p. m. on the day preceding ovulation.

Observations on rats treated with the sex hormones estrin and testosterone

The occurrence of 3 tar cancers of the skin, 1 uterine cancer, and 1 gastric cancer are reported in rats fed with an estrin product obtained from pregnancy urine. A tar cancer is recorded in 1 control rat. Whereas in rats injected with estrone for long periods, carcinoma of the genital tract and breast occurred accompanied by other usual estrin effects, it appears that with prolonged injection of testosterone, the females went into permanent vaginal diestrus, the pituitary weights were not above normal limits, somatic growth was not inhibited, and the predominant neoplastic lesions were fibrous tissue tumors in injected areas, some of which became sarcomatous.