THE RADIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN VARIOUS TISSUES OF THE OVARIECTOMISED MOUSE FOLLOWING THE SYSTEMIC ADMINISTRATION OF TRITIATED OESTRADIOL AND OESTRONE

Abstract

Up to 16 h after the subcutaneous injection of a physiological dose of 17[beta]-estradiol-6,7-H3, almost all the radioactivity in the uterus and vagina was ether soluble and moved with estradiol in the Bush B1 and B3 chromatographic systems (Bush 1952). In the liver and blood activity was recovered in both water and ether soluble fractions, the latter containing a number of metabolites of estradiol. No firm binding to protein could be shown in these tissues. After the injection of estrone most of the radioactivity in the uterus and vagina was again ether soluble but activity associated with both estrone and estradiol was found. The ratio of estradiol-estrone in these tissues increased with increasing time after injection. Possible sites of the conversion of estradiol to estrone are discussed.