Cadmium interferes with steroid biosynthesis in rat granulosa and luteal cellsin vitro

Abstract

Recently, cadmium has been described to disturb ovarian function in rats. In this paper the direct influence of cadmium on steroid production of ovarian cellsin vitro has been studied. Granulosa and luteal cells were obtained from proestrous and pregnant rats, and incubated with 0, 5, 10, 20 or 40 μg ml⁻¹ CdCl₂ in the presence or absence of 0.1–1000 ng ml⁻¹ follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) or luteinizing hormone (LH) for 24 or 48 h. Production of progesterone (P) and 17β-estradiol (E₂) by granulosa and that of P by luteal cells were measured by radioimmunoassay. In FSH-stimulated granulosa cell cultures, 5 and 40 μg ml⁻¹ CdCl₂ suppressed P accumulation to 65 and 10%, respectively; accumulation of E₂ (at 5 μg ml⁻¹ CdCl₂) decreased to 44%. P production of LH-supported luteal cells dropped to 86 and 66%, respectively, when 5 and 40 μg ml⁻¹ CdCl₂ was added to the medium. No alteration in basal P accumulation occurred in granulosa and luteal cell cultures following incubations with 20 and 40 μg ml⁻¹ CdCl₂, whereas basal E₂ production of granulosa cells was markedly diminished. It is concluded that CdCl₂ suppressing steroid synthesisin vitro exerts a direct influence on granulosa and luteal cell function.