Abstract
Summary
Twenty, 21-day-old female albino rats were subjected to bilateral lesions of the region of the mammillary bodies. Within one day of receiving a repository dose of 0.5 μg of estradiol valerate, all 6 recipients showed vaginal opening with subsequent constant estrus and reproductive organ growth. Four animals receiving sesame oil and 8 receiving no treatment exhibited definite signs of delayed puberty and reproductive organ immaturity. These results indicate the inability of the prepuberal hypothalamus to elaborate or secrete those neurosecretory substances essential for the functional sexual state of the mammal, and the dependence of estrogen secretion upon normal hypothalamic activity as mediated via the hypothysis.
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