Long-Term Responses of the Mouse Uterus to Neonatal Diethylstilbestrol Treatment and to Later Sex Hormone Exposure2

Abstract

The effects of ovariectomy at 1 month of age and continuous 17 beta-estradiol (E2) and/or progesterone (P) replacement on the uterus of BALB/cCrgl mice neonatally treated with diethylstilbestrol [(DES) CAS: 56-53-1; alpha-alpha'-diethyl-4,4'-stilbenediol] or sesame oil were recorded after 1, 4, 7, and 10 months of treatment. DES-exposed uteri were found to be hypoplastic, less responsive to the growth-promoting effects of E2, and more likely to develop smooth muscle abnormalities after continuous hormonal treatment than similarly treated control uteri. Neonatal DES treatment led to leukocytic infiltration, disruption in the organization of the inner circular smooth muscle layer, and development of a population of epithelial cells believed to respond to later E2 treatment by proliferation and stratification (squamous metaplasia). Qualitative and quantitative responses to continuous P treatment and the development of cystic glandular hyperplasia and adenomyosis were found to be unaltered by neonatal DES administration. The relevance of these results to the problems of uterine abnormalities observed in women exposed to DES in utero is discussed.