Deciduoma Formation in Persistent Estrous Rats Produced by Neonatal Androgenization

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Abstract
Uterine responsiveness to different kinds of deciduogenic stimuli was studied in persistent estrous rats produced by a single injection of 100 μg testosterone propionate at 4 days after birth. The rats were ovariectomized when adult and given daily injections of 3 mg progesterone for 7 days and a single injection of 0.1 μg estradiol-17β on the 3rd day of the period. Uterine trauma applied 16 h after the injection of estradiol elicited deciduomata in the androgenized rats, the incidence and magnitude of the response being similar to those in the nonandrogenized controls. The incidence of deciduomata following intraluminal instillation of 0.1 ml sesame oil was significantly lower in the neonatally androgenized rats than in the controls. Since the incidence of dcciduomal response to oil instillation in the androgenized adult rats was greatly elevated if they had been ovariectomized on Day 20, the decrease in response in similar rats ovariectomized as adults appears to be largely ascribable to the effect of the continued exposure of the uterus to endogenous estrogen rather than to the influence of the single injection of androgen given neonatally. Under the conditions of the present study, intraluminal instillation of 100 μg prostaglandin E2 dissolved in 0.1 ml phosphate-buffered saline elicited deciduomata in a majority of rats androgenized neonatally, whereas instillation of its precursor, arachidonic acid (200 μg in phosphate-buffered saline, containing 0.05% ethyl alcohol), induced decidualization in only a few females. By contrast, incidences of deciduomata in the control animals instilled with prostaglandin E2 and arachidonic acid were similar. It was suggested that the failure of intrauterine instillation of oil to induce decidualization in the androgen-sterilized rats could be accounted for by a reduction of prostaglandin biosynthesis due to the interruption of the enzymatic conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandin in the endometrium.