Steroid Pellets and Venous Diameter in Orchidectomized, Ovariectomized, and Ovariectomized-Hysterectomized Mice

Kapadia

1976

Am. J. Anat.

Pellets of glass (control), progesterone (P), testosterone (T), and estradiol-17beta (E) were placed on the mesentery or subcutaneously in the flank in ovariectomized (O) and ovariectomized-hysterectomized (OH) mice, insuring that all or most of the hormone would pass through the superior mesinteric or circumflex iliac veins. After 21 days the diameters of these and of the ovarian, uterine, and femoral veins and inferior vena cava were measured at autopsy. T and E caused significant enlargement of the uteri; E was also responsible for bladder distention. The ovarian and uterine veins enlarged significantly in mice treated with T and E as compared to the controls. All other veins failed to respond to P, T, and E. The evidence demonstrates a specific response of ovarian and uterine veins in O and OH mice to T and E.

Specific response of ovarian and uterine veins of mice to sex hormones

Kapadia

1976

Am. J. Anat.

Vein size in intact and hysterectomized mice during the estrous cycle and pregnancy

Taku

1975

Anat. Rec.

The diameters of the ovarian, uterine, and femoral veins and the inferior vena cava were measured during stages of the estrous cycle in intact and hysterectomized mice and at intervals during pregnancy in mice with embryos in both uterine horns or in only the left horn. At metestrus I vein sizes were the least and were not significantly different in intact and hysterectomized mice. Ovarian and uterine veins showed the same or increased diameters at other stages of the cycle; veins enlarged progressively during pregnancy in intact mice. Non-gravid uterine horns showed little size increase as compared to gravid horns. Increases in vein diameter appeared to be correlated with local production of reproductive hormones. Evidence for transuterine migration of embryos was observed in 21 of 53 mice in which one uterine tube had been ligated or one ovary had been removed.

16α‐hydroxy‐progesterone as a sex hormone antagonist: Effect on venous diameters in the female mouse

Taku

1975

Anat. Rec.

Pellets of progesterone plus 1% 16alpha-hydroxy-progesterone (16alpha-OH), testosterone plus 1% 16alpha-OH, and estradiol-17beta plus 1% 16alpha-OH were implanted in the right uterine fat mass in ovariectomized (O) and ovariectomized-hysterectomized (OH) mice. Three weeks later they were killed and the diameters of the ovarian, uterine, and femoral veins and the inferior vena cava were measured and averaged. The averages were compared with averages for O and OH mice bearing pellets of glass and of progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol-17beta without 16alpha-OH. It is concluded that in castrate mice the size of ovarian and uterine veins is influenced not by the presence or absence of the uterus but by sex steroids, that progesterone usually causes decreases while testosterone and estradiol-17beta cause increases in vein diameter, and that both the presence of the uterus and the administration of 1% 16alpha-OH are associated with partial inhibition of increases in vein size induced by steroids. Uterine hypertrophy and urinary bladder distention resulting from the administration of testosterone and estradiol-17beta were not prevented by the addition of 1% 16alpha-OH.