In vivo and in vitro effects of androgens on rat ovarian granulosa cells.

In this communication attention is called to some features of ovarian cyst formation in rats after exposure to 6 mg/100 gm body weight of dehydroepiandrosterone for 21 days. Cysts were identified by the transformation of mural granulosa cells into epithelial cells. The invaginations of the basal plasma membrane of the epithelial cells of the cyst are thought to be indications of the cells' involvement in active endocytosis. This endocytosis may be one strategy for moving fluid into the cyst. The filamentous actin of granulosa cells cultured in the presence of 10(-5) mol/L dehydroepiandrosterone was found to be deficient when compared with that of controls. This lack of filamentous actin coupled with other organelle degeneration is believed to lead to early atresia of granulosa cells in vitro in the presence of high concentrations of androgens.