Uterine total lactic dehydrogenase and isozymes of rats administered steroids

Endometrial scrapings from intact immature and adult rats as well as from ovariectomized series injected subcutaneously daily for 4 days with estradiol benzoate (0.053 mumol/rat/day) displayed marked increases in total LDH and LDH5 over the controls. The uterine luminal fluids from the estrogen-treated animals were lower in total enzyme and, of the isozymes, LHD5 occurred at levels higher than in the scrapings, and LHD1--LDH3, inclusive, were very low to absent. A few of the fluids which were purulent contained greater total LDH contents. Progesterone (19.1 mumol/rat/day) depressed the control LDH in intact adults but had very little influence on an ovariectomized series, and the distribution of isozymes followed the control patterns. However, estradiol benzoate + progesterone elicited overall LDH levels exceeding the respective controls, being more in the range of the estrogen-treated groups and with a trend toward decreases in LDH5 relative to the estrogen-injected rats.