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The ability of 20-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (20-dihydroprogesterone, 20-DHP) and its 5-reduced metabolites, 20-hydroxy-5-pregnan-3-one and 5-pregnane-3,20-diol, to facilitate ovulation was examined in immature female rats which had been treated on day 22 of age with a non-ovulatory dose (12 i.u.) of pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin. An increased incidence of ovulation occurred in rats treated on the morning of day 24 with 20-DHP. However, a dose of 20-DHP three to four times that of progesterone was required to induce ovulation in all animals. In contrast, neither 20-hydroxy-5-pregnan-3-one (at doses ranging from 0·5 to 5·0 mg) nor 5-pregnane-3,20-diol (tested at 3·0 or 4·0 mg) facilitated ovulation. Therefore both 20-DHP and progesterone, the two major progestins of the rat oestrous cycle, have the ability to facilitate ovulation. It is concluded that the ability of 20-DHP to facilitate ovulation does not appear to be by way of conversion to its 5-reduced metabolites.

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				K A Brown, D Boerboom, N Bouchard, M Dore, J G Lussier, and J Sirois Human chorionic gonadotropin-dependent induction of an equine aldo-keto reductase (AKR1C23) with 20{alpha}-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity during follicular luteinization in vivo. J. Mol. Endocrinol., June 1, 2006; 36(3): 449 - 461. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]