THE MOUSE UTERINE WEIGHT METHOD FOR THE ASSAY OF ESTROGENS1

Abstract

The sensitivity and relative consistency of uterine wt. responses in immature albino mice makes this assay method a very reliable one providing all assays are made in parallel with controls and several levels of estrone standards and also providing that the extracts are prepared free from gonadotrophins. Availability of the animals at low cost also is an important item. In the prep, of urine or blood extracts it may be best to separate the phenolic estrogens from the neutral androgens, but for most comparative studies the amts. of androgens likely to be present are too low to interfere seriously. The method may prove to be of some value in studying non-phenolic estrogens or in quantitative studies on the separation of phenolic estrogens from progesterone.