The Journal of endocrinology
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Different effects of oestrogen are mediated separately, by independent mechanisms of action. Accordingly, it has been shown that it is possible to dissociate these effects under various conditions which stimulate or inhibit responses selectively. The present study describes the action of progesterone on non-genomic responses to oestrogen stimulation which, it has been suggested, are mediated by eosinophils. ⋯ Therefore the number of eosinophils decreased without any change in the uterine oedema induced after 6h of oestrogen action. The results corroborate previously published evidence of a dissociation of the action of oestrogen in independent groups of responses. Progesterone, a known blocker of some oestrogenic responses, did not block the effects mediated by eosinophils at 6h after oestrogen administration; any change in these effects at later times can be explained by an earlier eosinophil degranulation under the action of progesterone.