Effects of Testosterone on Genital Organs of Female Rats Treated from Date of Birth. ∗

Abstract

Conclusions

1. Testosterone propionate injected into female rats from the day of birth arrests follicular development beyond the stage of the antrum and prevents corpus luteum formation. 2. These findings extend our previous observations on adult and 21-day-old rats, and it is therefore concluded that testosterone in the doses used prevents luteinization of the rat's ovary at any age. 3. When treatment is initiated on the day of birth, there is an arrest of follicular development and a partial transformation of the follicles into seminiferous tubule-like structures, not observed in our previous study with older rats. 4. Inflammatory lesions representing various stages of salpingitis, meso-salpingitis, and periovarian cellulitis appeared in about 40 per cent of the experimental animals. 5. The formation of tubal abscesses, caused by secondary bacterial invasion, is preceded by the stimulation of secretory changes in the tubal epithelium.