Aldosterone Excretion in Feces of Rats Treated with Estradiol

Abstract

In an attempt to elucidate whether or not prolonged administration of estrogens increases the production of aldosterone- like substances, male rats were injected daily with 0.1 mg of estradiol-17β dipropionate subcutaneously. A material extracted from feces was shown to behave like aldosterone in different paper chromatographic systems and to give an infrared spectrum compatible with that of aldosterone. However, it should be borne in mind that the spectrophotometric method used for quantitative estimation does not offer complete certainty that the material under study is aldosterone; hence the term aldosterone is used with due reservation. During the period of aldosterone study (2-5 weeks of estrogen treatment) aldosterone excretion underwent an average increment of 70% in the group treated with estrogen. At the termination of the experiment, it was found that the adrenal corticosterone concentration was increased several-fold in estrogentreated animals. The blood glucose tolerance curve indicated conservation of homeostasis but shifted to an upper level in estrogentreated animals. These findings are discussed in the light of data existing in the literature and it is concluded that they may indicate an increase in the secretory rate of aldosterone by the rat adrenal cortex under estrogen administration.