Function of the Postmenopausal Ovary. Comparison of Urinary Estrogen and Gonadotropin Excretion and Response to Administration of FSH in Postmenopausal and Ovariectomized Women††

Abstract

After the menopause, reproductive capacity is lost, but there is evidence that estrogen production is continued. For example, estrogens can be extracted from the urine of postmenopausal women, evidence of estrogenic activity not infrequently can be seen in endometrial biopsy specimens, and vaginal smear examinations may show changes suggestive of estrogen effect. The origin of this estrogen, however, is not entirely clear. Heller, Farney and Myers (1), observing the abrupt increase of climacteric symptoms after the removal of postmenopausal ovaries, suggested that the ovary was the most important site of postmenopausal estrogen production. Hertig (2), studying the histologic structure of aging ovaries, concluded that the stromal cells may assume secretory function.There is considerable evidence that the adrenal cortex is a source of estrogen production. Dao (3) recovered estrogens from the urine of ovariectomized patients having carcinoma of the breast. Hershel Sandberg and co-workers (4) induced increased excretion of estrogen in ovariectomized but otherwise normal women, by the administration of ACTH. West, Damast and Pearson (5) observed similar increases in estrogen excretion in patients with mammary carcinoma who received AOTH.It is the purpose of this report to present studies in which postmenopausal ovarian function was evaluated in the following manner:1. The urinary estrogen and gonadotropin excretion of 51 normal postmenopausal women was assayed and compared to that of 30 surgically castrated patients.

Oral and Intravenous Estrogens in the Treatment and Prevention of Bleeding Associated With Long‐term Anticoagulant Therapy

“…Determination of the excretion of estrone, estradiol-17p, and estriol in 96-hour specimens of urine from 17 premenopausal patients with breast cancer revealed approximately the same decrease in estrogen excretion following ovarian irradiation as after bilateral oophorectomy (69). Furthermore, studies of urinary estrogen excretion indicate that the postmenopausal ovary retains a small but important secretory function and is the major site of the postmenopausal production of estrogeii (70). There is a highly significant difference between the urinary estrogen excretion of postmenopausal women and that of castrated women, the former being approximately twice as great as the latter.…”