Follicle Stimulating Hormone-Induced Follicular Development: An Examination of the Role of Androgens1

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Abstract
The biological effects of FSH [follicle stimulating hormone] in the presence and absence of a potent nonsteroidal antiandrogen, SCH-16423 [.alpha.,.alpha.,.alpha.-trifluoro-2-methyl-4''-nitro-m-lactotoluidide], were investigated in rats to determine if androgens are required for antral follicle maturation. Treatment of hypophysectomized diethylstilbestrol treated immature female rats with o[ovine]FSH for 24 h led to a 9-fold increase in [125I]-hCG [human chorionic gonadotropin] binding to isolated granulosa cells and a marked increase in the ability of cultured granulosa cells to secrete progesterone in vitro when compared with saline injected controls. Coadministration of SCH-16423 with oFSH for 24 h did not inhibit the induction of LH[luteinizing hormone]/hCG receptors on granulosa cells; progesterone production by cultured granulosa cells was slightly increased when compared with cells from animals which recevied FSH alone. When rats were treated with FSH or FSH plus SCH-16423 for 54 h to advance follicles to the preovulatory stage and subsequently treated with hCG to induce ovulation and luteinization, the antiandrogen potentiated the biological effects of the gonadotropin as measured by increased ovarian weights and elevated serum progesterone levels when compared with animals which received only FSH-hCG. Androgens are apparently not required for FSH to initiate antral follicle maturation in vivo and androgens are probably antagonistic to this process.