Quantitative studies on the effects of hormones on structure and porphyrin biosynthesis in the harderian gland of the female golden hamster. II. The time course of changes after ovariectomy.

The Harderian gland of the golden hamster is an important model of porphyrin biosynthesis. In the female, ovariectomy leads to changes in porphyrin production and gland structure. The present study demonstrates that these changes are progressive and independent of age and environmental factors which may have similar effects. Porphyrinogenic enzyme activity decreases with time after ovariectomy while tubule wall degeneration and neutrophilic infiltration increase. Tubule degeneration leads in turn to porphyrin stores (normally intraluminal) occurring increasingly in the interstitial tissue of the gland, either as large accretions surrounded by foreign body giant cells or as small deposits inside individual free macrophages. Between 20-30 weeks after ovariectomy, the frequency of mitotic figures begins to increase accompanied by a transient rise in porphyrinogenic enzyme activity. Mast cell numbers (both in the gland and its capsule) increase markedly with time after ovariectomy.