Effect of indomethacin on the progesterone secretion of hysterectomized pseudopregnant rats

The length of pseudopregnancy and the progesterone levels in rats pseudopregnant and hysterectomized on their 2nd day and injected daily with indomethacin (500 g/0.2 ml) from the 2nd to 10th day do not differ from those exhibited by oil treated rats. On the contrary, indomethacin treatment from 11th day on, results in both a lengthening of the diestrous phase and a delayed luteolysis. These findings point out to an extrauterine prostaglandin synthesis mechanism participating in the functional luteolysis in histerectomized pseudopregnant rats.