Cortisol Effects on the Uterine Response to Estrogen1

Abstract

The rates of protein, ribonucleic acid (RNA), and phospholipid synthesis in the uteri of estrogen-treated rats were affected little, if at all, by 2 and 4 mg injections of cortisol-21-hydrogen succinate. However, cortisol did inhibit imbibition of fluid into the uteri of the same immature rats. In some experiments, but not all, a partial suppression of the incorporation of labeled precursors into protein, RNA, and phospholipid was observed in those uteri treated with both cortisol and estradiol when compared with animals receiving estradiol alone. It was concluded that the release of histamine cannot be considered to be more primary to the estrogen response than increased rates of synthesis of uterine protein, RNA, and phospholipid, since all these phenomena occur independently of changes in uterine wet weight. (Endocrinology74: 955, 1964)