The fertility of mice after androgen injection in early infancy.

Abstract

Androgen treatment during the critical neonatal period in themouse leads to a marked change in the evolution of the reproductive performance. Though ovulation occurs in most animals in the early mature period, 25% of the androgenized mice are sterile. The mice that prove to be fertile do not develop young after the first insemination apparently due to a faulty maternal milieu caused by a temporary incompetence of the endometrium. The total reproduction capacity is reduced by more than half. The fertility span of the androgenized mice is shortened due to the late appearance of first litters and the early onset of secondary sterility. The early failure of the uterus to support developing embryos and thereby initiating the end of reproduction suggests an early aging of the uterus.