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. 1977 Nov;34(5):534–540. doi: 10.1128/aem.34.5.534-540.1977

Role of estrogen in controlling the genital microflora of female rats.

B Larsen, A J Markovetz, R P Galask
PMCID: PMC242696  PMID: 563215

Abstract

Plate counts of viable bacteria recovered by lavage from rat vaginae demonstrated that the number of bacteria associated with the vaginal epithelium varied cyclically and that this pattern was abolished by ovariectomy. After ovariectomy, vaginal bacterial counts remained relatively stable at low levels. The estrogen 17beta-estradiol (1,3,5(10)-estratriene-3,17beta-diol cypionate) administered to ovariectomized rats caused a significant increase in vaginal bacterial counts on day 3 post-treatment. A similar effect was seen in non-ovariectomized rats, but a larger dose of estrogen antagonist may have been present in non-ovariectomized animals. Progesterone (4-pregnene-3,20-dione) given with estradiol diminished the effect of the estrogen on vaginal bacterial counts, but did not abolish it. Progesterone administered without estradiol had no detectable effect on vaginal bacterial counts. These findings suggested that the cyclic variation in bacterial content of rat vaginae could be explained primarily as the effect of the secretory pattern of ovarian estrogen.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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