THE EFFECT OF EXOGENOUS OESTROGEN ON THE BLOOD FLOW AND OXYGEN CONSUMPTION OF THE UTERUS OF THE NON-PREGNANT EWE

¹ Department of Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, and the Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Observations on unrestrained nonpregnant ewes, prepared with appropriately placed indwelling catheters for obtaining blood samples, indicate that the administration of oestrogen - either I.M. or I.V. - is followed by a fall in the coefficient of O₂ utilization of the uterus, and an increase in the blood flow through it, that were often detectable 30 min later and approached minimum and maximum values respectively after about an hour and a half. Similar results were obtained in acute experiments at which the uterine blood flow was measured directly and the oxygen consumption (ml./kg/min) determined. In all of the acute experiments the blood flow increased after oestrogen administration in the absence of any regular increase in O₂ consumption. In three experiments the flow rate (ml./kg/min) increased about fivefold.

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This study was aided by grants from the National Institutes of Health (Nos. HD 02300-08 and HD 02345-09) and the Association for the Aid of Crippled Children.