[Effect of L-TYR on the uterine cytosol estradiol and progesterone receptors in rat].

The effect of L-TYR on rat uterine cytosol estradiol and progesterone receptor contents was studied. The rats were divided into 4 groups: proestrus, estrus, metestrus and diestrus. One horn of each uterus was injected with L-TYR (2 mmol/L, 0.1 ml), while the other with 0.1 ml 0.9% NaCl serving as control. The mole concentration of receptor was calculated with RRA and cytosol receptor content was expressed as fmol/mg protein. It was shown that L-TYR decreased significantly the uterine estradiol and progesterone receptors in proestrus, estrus and diestrus phases of the estrus cycle, but without effect on metestrus. This was most probably due to competitive combination of TYR with some functional groups of the estradiol receptor because of similar chemical conformation of TYR to estradiol. Threonine could also decrease, to some extent, the uterine cytosol progesterone receptor content at estrus and dioestrus phases. Serine had no effect on the contents of uterine cytosol either estradiol or progesterone receptor in normal and ovariectomized rats. The present observation indicates that L-TYR appears to affect the synthesis of the cytosol estradiol and progesterone receptor in the rat uterus independent, however, of endogenous ovarian sex hormones, since the effect is still present in the ovariectomized animals.