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Relationships among Placental, Uterine, and Circulating Concentrations of Progesterone and Fetal Survival in the Ovariectomized Pregnant Rat^*

Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction (C. L.), 75005 Paris Cédex 05, et ER 125, CNRS, Unité de Recherches sur le Métabolisme Moléculaire et la Physiopathologie des stéròides INSERM (P. R.), 94270 Bicêtre, France

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. C. Legrand, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction, Bt A, 7, Quai St. Bernard, 75005 Paris Cedex 05, France.

Abstract

Pregnant rats were ovariectomized or sham operated on day 15 postcoitum. Four days later, progesterone was measured by RIA in peripheral and uterine vein plasma, in uteri, and in placentae. Maintenance of pregnancy was not critically affected by ovariectomy, since fetal survival was 65.7 ± 5.1% (mean ± SEM) despite a large decrease of peripheral plasma progesterone from 115.7 ± 3.4 to 9.3 ± 0.5 ng/ml. Peripheral and uterine vein plasma progesterone (8.3 ± 0.9 ng/ml) were identical. In contrast, placental progesterone decreased only slightly, although significantly, from 27.3 ± 1.3 to 20.3 ± 1.0 ng/mg. The concentrations of uterine progesterone were variable and positively correlated with the concentrations of peripheral plasma progesterone. It was concluded that uterine progesterone originates from peripheral blood but not from placentae and thatfetal survival is positively correlated with residual progesterone concentrations in peripheral plasma and in uterus but not in placentae.

Footnotes

^* Fellow (Reproductive Biology) of the Délégation Générate à la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (France).

Received November 29, 1978.