Responses of the anterior pituitary of ovariectomized rats to oestradiol-17β administration

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Abstract
The response of the female rat anterior pituitary gland to estradiol-17.beta. administered s.c. by silastic capsule implants (6-120 .mu.g/day) was examined. Cholesterol, estradiol-17.alpha. and testosterone were used as control hormone implants. The biochemical changes in the gland as assayed by DNA, RNA and protein contents were monitored at intervals of 7, 21, 42 and 120 days. The number of cells per gland was determined by an experimental cell counting technique and correlated to the number of cells based on total DNA content. These results extend previous observations of the hypertrophy of the anterior pituitary and show essentially parallel increases in cell number, DNA, RNA and protein contents.