œstrogen Med.
(ˈiːs-, ˈɛstrədʒən)
Also (U.S.) estro-.
[f. œstrus + -o + -gen.]
Any natural or synthetic substance which can produce or maintain the secondary female sex characteristics in a mammal and which initiates certain bodily changes associated with the menstrual or œstrous cycle.
| 1927 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 22 Nov. 788/1 Parke, Davis & Company, Detroit, Michigan... Estrogen... Extract of gland tissue for use in the treatment of various types of ovarian disfunctions. Claims use since May 25, 1927. 1928 Endocrinology XII. 151 (heading) Estrogen, a new sex hormone. 1936 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 10 Oct. 1223/2 ‘Estrogen’ is a registered trade mark belonging to Parke, Davis and Company... This firm has commendably agreed to relinquish its proprietary rights in the name on its adoption by the Council as a generic term. 1943 Endeavour II. 29/2 This soon led..to the synthesis of artificial oestrogens of extraordinary potency. 1951 A. Grollman Pharmacol. & Therapeutics xxvi. 583 Diethylstilbestrol and other estrogens exert an ameliorative effect in carcinoma of the prostate and in certain cases of mammary carcinoma occuring in post-menopausal women. 1960 Which? Feb. 24/1 Oestrogens, originally, seem to have been incorporated into face creams without any direct evidence that they could affect the skin. 1968 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxxvii. 11/1 The principal ovarian hormones..fall into three broad functional categories, oestrogens, progestagens and androgens. 1968 Times 28 Nov. 14/4 Most oral contraceptive pills contain both a progestogen and an oestrogen—another type of ovarian hormone which is thought to be responsible for most of the side effects, such as changes of weight. 1974 Nature 12 Apr. 616/2 The role of oestrogens in male reproduction remains an enigma. |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
œstrogen effect,
œstrogen excretion,
œstrogen ointment,
œstrogen pill,
œstrogen therapy;
œstrogen-induced,
œstrogen-secreting,
œstrogen-treated adjs.| 1957 Times 2 Dec. (Agric. Suppl.) p. vi/4 A source of greater fear to those familiar with oestrogen effects is the inhalation of dust from a concentrated premix. 1972 Endocrinology XCI. 1273 (heading) Early estrogen effects on lipid metabolism in the rat uterus. |
| 1946 Nature 24 Aug. 276/2 The significance of androgen and oestrogen excretion in the urine in relation to ageing. 1972 Brit. Vet. Jrnl. CXXVIII. 565 Urinary oestrogen excretion has been studied during the oestrus cycle in a variety of domestic animals. |
| 1956 Nature 10 Mar. 478/2 Progesterone..prevents oestrogen-induced abdominal fibroids. 1960 Which? Feb. 24/2 In aged women..it was claimed that treatment with oestrogen ointment had an effect. 1972 F. Warner Maquettes 44 Oestrogen-pills on prescription. |
| 1948 L. Martin Clin. Endocrinol. ix. 191 Œstrogen-secreting ovarian tumours composed of cells resembling those of the membrane granulosa of the Graafian follicle. Ibid. 170 Prolonged œstrogen therapy causes hypertrophy of the uterus and endometrium and enlargement of the breasts. 1974 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 4 Feb. 522/1 Patients with preexisting hyperlipemia should probably not receive estrogen therapy. |
| 1957 A.M.A. Arch. Path. LXIV. 595/2 Stratified squamous epithelium may be produced in the uterus of estrogen-treated rats by two separate..methods. |