Role of estrogen and androgen in maintaining the preovulatory follicle.

The effects of nitromifene citrate (CI 628), an antiestrogen, and Flutamide, an antiandrogen, on the ultrastructure and viability of the preovulatory follicle and granulosa cells were examined both in vivo and in vitro. In vivo administration of either antihormone induced degeneration within the granulosa cells. In some of the affected granulosa cells, the nuclear material was condensed while the cytoplasm and associated organelles were unaltered. In others, the density of the cytoplasm was reduced, the smooth endoplasmic reticulum was dilated but the nucleus remained unaltered. In vitro, either antihormone reduced granulosa-cell viability but the granulosa cells were twenty times more sensitive to CI 628 than to Flutamide. In addition, exposure to CI 628 induced nuclear condensation without affecting the cytoplasm, while Flutamide induced the deterioration of the cytoplasm without altering the nucleus. These observations suggest that: (1) both estrogen and androgens control the viability of the granulosa cells and thereby the follicle, (2) the action of estrogen and androgen is mediated through receptors within the granulosa cells since these antihormones prevent the nuclear uptake of their respective hormone, (3) the granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles appears to be more dependent on estrogen than on androgen, and (4) each steroid appears to have a specific role in maintaining the granulosa cell; estrogens control the integrity of the nucleus while androgens preserve the cytoplasmic organization of the granulosa cell.