FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE-INDUCED FOLLICULAR DEVELOPMENT - EXAMINATION OF THE ROLE OF ANDROGENS

The biological effects of FSH in the presence and absence of a potent nonsteroidal antiandrogen, SCH-16423, were investigated in rats to determine if androgens are required for antral follicle maturation. Treatment of hypophysectomized diethylstilbestrol treated immature female rats with oFSH for 24 h led to a nine-fold increase in [125I]-hCG binding to isolated granulosa cells and a marked increase in the ability of cultured granulosa cells to secrete progesterone in vitro when compared with saline injected controls. Coadministration of SCH-16423 with oFSH for 24 h did not inhbit the induction of LH/hCG receptors on granulosa cells: progesterone production by cultured granulosa cells was slightly increased when compared with cells from animals which received FSH alone. When rats were treated with FSH or FSH plus SCH-16423 for 54 h to advance follicles to the preovulatory stage and subsequently treated with hCG to induce ovulation and luteinization, it was observed that the antiandrogen potentiated the biological effects of the gonadotropin as measured by increased ovarian weights and elevated serum progesterone levels when compared with animals which received only FSH-hCG. These results indicate that androgens are not required for FSH to initiate antral follicle maturation in vivo and further suggest that androgens are antagonistic to this process.