Prenatal androgenization: its impact on offspring´s development and reproductive phenotype.

TORRES PJ; RAMÍREZ ND; LUQUE EM; MARTINI AC

CORDOBA

Jornada; XXIII Jornada de Investigación de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; 2022

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy among women at reproductive age. Among others, this disorder is characterized by reproductive disorders and even, subfertility. Animal models of PCOS use androgen administration protocols in critical periods (usually prenatal), since maternal exposure to androgens is postulated as the main causal factor. In this randomized controlled study, we tested whether androgenization of pregnant female mice (F0) elicits a PCOS-like phenotype in F1 offspring.We treated female Albino Swiss (N/NIH) mice (F0; n=5-6 females/treatment) s.c. during gestational days 16.5 to 18.5, with 250 µg/day of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), vehiculized in 100 µl of sesame oil. Control females (C) received vehicle at the same regimen. Parameters evaluated in F1 were: growth and physical development, sexual maturation and, in adulthood, reproductive function. Data were analyzed using ANOVA or repeated measures ANOVA as appropriate.The female offspring of the DHT group gained more weight from birth to adulthood than C group (DHT=23.38±0.40 vs C=21.7±0.5; n=5 litters/group; p