Figure 2.

E₂ suppresses gonadotropin secretion and Lhb and Fshb mRNA expression in peripubertal WT mice but has no effect on FSH secretion or Lhb and Fshb mRNA expression in peripubertal KERαKO mice. Mean plasma LH (A) and FSH (B) levels, as well as relative Lhb (C) and Fshb (D) mRNA expression levels, for WT and KERαKO mice that were left intact (sham) or bilaterally OVX and implanted with a capsule containing vehicle (V) or E₂ on P34 and then euthanized 2 days later (P36). All Lhb and Fshb mRNA expression levels are normalized to Rn18s and compared relative to expression levels in sham WT mice. Two-way ANOVA analyses indicated a significant interaction between genotype and treatment for all measurements (P < .05), except for LH levels (P = .08). Genotype significantly affected all measurements independent of treatment (P < .01), except for LH levels (P = .42), whereas treatment significantly affected all measurements independent of genotype (P < .05). *, P < .05; **, P < .01; ***, P < .001 as determined by post hoc comparisons. All data represented as mean ± SEM.