[Estrogens and Cell Multiplication in the Adenohypophysis of the Male Rat: in Vivo and in Vitro Studies]

A single dose (1 microgram) of oestradiol sub-cutaneously injected to an immature male rat promotes a transitory increase of the pituitary mitotic activity, the maximum of which is reached between 32 and 48 hours ; the observed fluctuations are similar to those previously described for the thymidine kinase activity. In these conditions, the concentration of blood prolactin remains unaltered, as were those of LH and FSH. It follows that hyperplasy of the pituitary can be quickly induced by doses of oestrogen that do not affect significantly the hormone release. Using Moxestrol, a synthetic oestrogen not bound by the oestradiol plasma binding protein, we show that in the very young rat, the in vivo responsiveness of the pituitary increases and reaches its maximum by day 17. This results can be tentatively related to the ontogeny of the oestradiol receptors in the pituitary described by others ; all our attempts to induce the thymidine kinase in cultured glands remained unsuccessful.