In the laying hen, progesterone was shown to be converted in vitro in the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus to 5β-pregnane-3,20-dione (5β-DHP), 5β-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one (5β,3α-ol) and 5α-pregnane-3,20-dione (5α-DHP) and in the hyperstriatum dorsale to 5β-DHP and 5β,3α-ol. The conversion of progesterone to 5β-reduced metabolites was greater in the hyperstriatum dorsale than in the hypothalamus (P<0·001) and greater in the hypothalamus than in the pituitary gland (P <0·01). The conversion of progesterone to 5β-reduced metabolites was greater than its conversion to 5α-DHP in the pituitary gland (P <0·01) and the hypothalamus (P < 0·001).
The possibility was investigated that 5α-DHP and 5β-DHP may act as metabolic intermediaries in the mechanism by which progesterone exerts a positive feedback effect on LH release. Progesterone, 5α-DHP and 5β-DHP were injected into laying hens at doses of 0·05,0·25 and 1·25 mg/kg and the changes in the concentration of plasma LH were followed for 4 h thereafter. Secretion of LH was stimulated after treatment with progesterone or 5α-DHP but not 5β-DHP. Progesterone stimulated LH release more effectively than did 5α-DHP, since an increase in the concentration of plasma LH was observed after 0·25 mg progesterone/kg but not after the same dose of 5α-DHP. It was concluded that in the hen 5α-DHP is unlikely to play a role in the induction of the preovulatory release of LH.
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