ABSTRACT
Diethylstilbestrol (DES) has been the most extensively used exogenous estrogenic hormone in human pregnancy. The possible occurrence of psychosexual developmental abnormalities in humans has been of concern, since animal studies have shown that in utero exposure of the developing fetus to exogenous steroid hormones of the opposite sex can produce reversed sex role preferences and other gender identity disorders. The P-dienestrol metabolites of DES found in mouse, rat, monkey, and human urine have been found to have estrogenic activity in both the in vivo mouse uterine weight bioassay and the in vitro with E2 receptor binding assay. In humans with prostatic carcinoma, DES promptly reduced plasma testosterone, but it was 2 weeks before luteinizing hormone levels fell. The human male, therefore, sustains damage that is qualitatively similar to experimental animals exposed to DES in utero.
