The Action of Testosterone and Oestradiol on the Sebaceous Glands and Epidermis of the Rat

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Abstract
A method is described for estimating the mean volume and mean number of sebaceous glands per unit area from sections of skin. The enlargement of the sebaceous glands which resulted from the implantation of testosterone in spayed rats aged 25 weeks was shown to be due to increases in both cell proliferation and cell volume; at the same time cell loss appeared to have been accelerated. The effect of oestradiol, which reduced the volume of the sebaceous glands, appeared to be due mainly to an acceleration of cell breakdown rather than to an inhibition of cell proliferation; cell size was not affected. When both hormones were administered simultaneously the identity of their individual effects appeared to be maintained, although the size of the resulting glands was not significantly different from normal. Oestradiol reduced the thickness of the epidermis (stratum germinativum plus stratum granulosum) in spayed rats without altering the incidence of mitoses, but testosterone had no significant effect.