Frequent occurrence of polyovular follicles in ovaries of mice exposed neonatally to diethylstibestrol

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Abstract
The occurrence of polyovular follicles (PF) was examined at 10-34 days of age in the ovaries of BALB/cCrgl female mice given five daily injections of 0.1μg diethylstilbestrol (DES), 2μg DES, 100 μg progesterone (P), 137 μg 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (HPC), 20 μg testosterone (T), 20 μg 5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT), or oil vehicle alone starting on the day of birth, and of C57BL/Tw females given five neonatal injections of 1 μg DES, 20 μg 17β-estradiol (E2), 50 μg 5α-DHT, 50 μg 5β-DHT, or the vehicle alone. Ovaries of 30-day-old C57BL mice given five daily injections of 1 μg DES starting at 3–25 days of age were also examined. PF incidence (% of PF per ovary) and PF frequency (% of mice with PF) were significantly greater in BALB/c mice receiving injections of DES, P, HPC, and T than in the controls. In DES-treated mice at 34 days, PF incidence (2–13 oocytes/follicle) was 120–340 times higher than in the controls. BALB/c mice treated with T, P, and HPC showed PF incidence (two to four occytes/follicle) three- to six-fold higher than in the controls. In 30-day-old C57BL mice treated with T, E2, and DES, PF incidence also increased by two- to 50-fold. 5α-DHT and 5β-DHT failed to increase PF incidence. PF incidence was significantly increased only when neonatal DES treatment was begun on days 0 to 3, but was reduced when started at days 10–25. In DES-treated C57BL mice aged 10–30 days, PF incidence was significantly higher than in the age-matched controls.