Local effect of the blastocyst on estrogen and progesterone receptors in the rat endometrium.

Nuclear receptors for both estradiol and progesterone were present in twofold higher concentrations in implantation sites than in nonimplantation regions of the endometrium of 6-day pregnant rats. Decidualization in the absence of an embryo was not accompanied by a similar increase in the concentration of nuclear receptors. Moreover, this difference in receptor distribution between the implantation and nonimplantation areas persisted when a major part of the maternal supply of sex steroids was suppressed by ovariectomy on day 5 of pregnancy. These results support the hypothesis that steroids originating from the embryo affect the endometrial implantation site.