Abstract
The increase in uterine weight in response to a constant dose of estradiol was studied in maturing intact female rats and rats with precocious puberty due to hypothalamic lesions. Bilateral radiofrequency lesions were placed in the anterior hypothalamus of 20 day old rats and intact littermates were used as controls. Around the time of puberty (35 days) the intact littermate controls had an abrupt increase in uterine weight. This increase occurred 5 days earlier in lesioned animals. When controls and lesioned animals were ovariectomized at different ages and treated for 4 days with 0.05 μg/100 gbw/day of estradiol valerate (E2V), the uterine response of control rats to E2V increased around the time of puberty (Day 35 in controls). This change in responsiveness was advanced 5 days in the experimental group. Throughout the entire period studied, with the exception of animals ovariectomized at 20 days of age and those ovariectomized at 30 days of age, ovariectomized/lesioned rats treated with E2C showed uteri heavier than those of ovariectomized control rats similarly treated. Results indicate that precocious puberty induced by anterior hypothalamic lesions is associated with an advancement of the enhanced uterine responsiveness to estradiol, normally observed in intact animals around the time of puberty.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 321-326 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Biology of reproduction |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1977 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Reproductive Medicine
- Cell Biology