Effect of centchroman on the genital organs of the offspring of rats when administered during lactation or during the neonatal period: a comparative study with ethynylestradiol and diethylstilbestrol.

Lactating rats were treated with centchroman (1.25 mg/kg body wt. p.o.) or ethynylestradiol (100 micrograms/kg p.o.) daily from day 1 of parturition for 21 days and their offspring were autopsied at 60, 90 and 120 days of age. In the offspring nursed by centchroman treated mothers there was no change in ovarian weight. There was a reduction in their uterine weight; while the luminal epithelium presented a stimulated state, the stroma showed immature state in its histological features. The ovarian and uterine weights and their histology in the offspring of ethynylestradiol treated mothers showed no change. The male offspring of both the groups of rats showed an increase in the weight of genital organs and testis histology presented typical adult features. When centchroman was injected s.c. on 5th postnatal day to female rats (500 micrograms/rat), the ovary remained normal but the uterus revealed estrogen deficient state when they were 60 or 90 days old. Neonatal female rats injected with diethylstilbestrol (10 micrograms/rat) on day 5 showed normal ovary while uterus presented features typical of estrogenic stimulation with small areas of luminal epithelium showing squamous metaplastic changes. The results are discussed comparing the centchroman effects with the reported findings in rats treated with steroidal and triphenylethylene estrogenic compounds during lactation or the neonatal period.