UTEROTROPIC HORMONES PRODUCED BY OVARIES OF SL/SLT MUTANT MICE BEFORE SPONTANEOUS DEVELOPMENT OF TUBULAR ADENOMAS

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 76  (7) , 590-595
Abstract
Tubular adenomas developed spontaneously in ovaries of (WB .times. C57BL/6)F1-Sl/Slt and W/Wv mice after 150 days of age. The uteri of the W/Wv mice were hypoplastic before development of tubular adenomas, but the uteri of the Sl/Slt mice were not. Since oophorectomy significantly reduced the uterus weight in the Sl/Slt mice, the androgen- and estrogen-producing activity of Sl/Slt and W/Wv mice before development of tubular adenomas were investigated. Fragments of ovaries were cultured for 48 h in serum-free medium containing either progesterone or 4-androstene-3,17-dione (androstenedione). The amount of androgens produced from progesterone by ovaries of Sl/Slt mice in the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin was comparable to that of W/Wv mice. In contrast, the amount of estrogens produced from androstenedione by ovaries of Sl/Slt mice in the presence of FSH was much greater than that of W/Wy mice. The amount of estrogens produced was much greater than the amount of androgens in the ovaries of Sl/Slt mice. Therefore, before development of tubular adenomas, estrogens rather than androgens seem to be a major uterotropic hormone produced by ovaries of Sl/Slt mice.