Androgens stimulate estradiol production in cultured human placental explants from term pregnancy

Estradiol production was significantly stimulated in explants of normal human term placenta cultured in the presence of 0.01 mM methyltestosterone. Estradiol levels in the media rose significantly during the first 24 h incubation and increased more markedly over the next two successive 24 h incubations. Dexamethasone and d-norgestrel did not affect estradiol production. Neither progesterone nor hCG levels were altered by any of the three synthetic steroids. The non-aromatizable androgen, 5 alpha-dihydrotesterone (DHT), also significantly stimulated estradiol production in a dose-dependent fashion, with the maximum levels being measured in the media from the first 24 h incubation. In experiments where the explants were cultured for periods between 0.5 to 24 h, DHT elicited both a dose- and time-dependent increase in estradiol production: At all dosages of DHT, the maximum stimulation occurred at the end of 3 h incubation. Again progesterone and hCG productions were not affected. This appears to be the first report of androgens stimulating estradiol production in the human term placenta in vitro.