skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Colonic transit in rats: effect of ovariectomy, sex steroid hormones, and pregnancy

Journal Article · · Am. J. Physiol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6151734

In vitro studies suggest that the female sex steroid hormones (estrogen (E) and progesterone (P)) can affect the myoelectric and mechanical activity of colonic smooth muscle. The present study was designed to examine the influence of the hormones on colonic transit in vivo. Transit was assessed by quantifying the distribution within the colon of a radiolabeled marker (0.5 Ci Na2V CrO4), using the geometric center method of analysis. Studies were performed with adult male rats and the following groups of female rats: nonpregnant, ovariectomized, ovariectomy plus hormone pretreatment, and pregnant (day 18). Hormone-pretreated animals were studied 24 h following the fourth injection. The data can be summarized as follows. 1) Colonic transit was affected by the timing of the estrus cycle. 2) Ovariectomy eliminated the biphasic transit pattern observed in estruscycling females and resulted in a geometric center value comparable with that of the metestrus-diestrus animals. 3) E + P pretreatment of ovariectomized rats resulted in a significant decrease in the geometric center compared with the untreated ovariectomized rats. 4) The geometric center value in pregnant anials and hormone-pretreated animals. 5) Adult male rats had a geometric center value of 4.12 +/- 0.29. The results suggest that a relation exists between colonic transit and the circulating levels of the steroid hormones.

Research Organization:
Temple Univ. School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
OSTI ID:
6151734
Journal Information:
Am. J. Physiol.; (United States), Vol. 251:1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English