SOME BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF A PERHYDROPHENANTHRENE DERIVATIVE1

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Abstract
The compound Ro 2-7239 (2-acetyl-7-oxo-l,2,3,4,4a,4b,5,6,7,9, 10, lOa-dodecahydrophenanthrene) has been demonstrated to possess andro-genic and anti-androgenic activity when tested on the chick''s comb and the seminal vesicles, prostate, and levator ani muscle of the castrated rat. A rough estimate would assign a potency of l/100th the relative activity on the basis of the chick comb and l/400th on the basis of the rat accessories when compared to testosterone. Quite unlike testosterone Ro 2-7239 produces a shallow dose-response curve. Ro 2-7239 possesses no demonstrable estrogenic activity either by subcutaneous injection (less than l/16,000th of estrone) or by gavage (less than l/300th of estrone). Neither could anti-estrogenic activity be demonstrated. This phenanthrene derivative, when administered orally or by subcutaneous injection, inhibited the formation and/or release of pituitary gonadotropin as judged by the ovarian weight of an intact female in parabiosis with a castrated male rat.