Fetal growth inhibition and decreased thyroid activity after injection of oestradiol benzoate into pregnant rats

Abstract

Pregnant rats were subcutaneously injected daily with 10 μg oestradiol benzoate (OB) and/or 1 mg bromocriptine starting on day 15 of gestation. After treatment with OB, but not bromocriptine, lower fetal body weight, fetal length and placental weight were observed. The administration of bromocriptine did not influence maternal plasma levels of prolactin, but fetal levels were decreased on day 22 of gestation. Oestradiol benzoate raised prolactin concentrations in maternal plasma on days 20 and 22, whereas fetal plasma levels were raised on day 22. This increase was counteracted by simultaneous administration of bromocriptine and OB, whereas impairment of fetal growth remained after treatment. A slight decline in fetal plasma levels of insulin was observed once, but thyroid content of triiodothyronine and thyroxine (T4) was decreased to a quarter and a third respectively of control levels in male and female fetuses of OB-treated rats, fetal circulating levels of T4 were also depressed. Maternal and fetal plasma glucose levels were decreased. A close correlation between T4 and placental or fetal weight was always present on day 22 of gestation. It was concluded that OB injected into pregnant rats will reach the fetal circulation as judged by increases in fetal plasma levels of prolactin. The observed fetal growth retardation after the OB injection was associated with thyroid deficiency, whereas plasma levels of prolactin and insulin were either not at all or only slightly altered. A direct effect of OB on placental blood flow and hence on the fetal food supply cannot, however, be excluded.