Abstract
Summary
A decline in pituitary FSH concentration and content was associated with prepubertal development of female rats. A further decline in pituitary FSH concentration occurred at the time of vaginal opening, but pituitary FSH content fell only slightly at this time because of a concurrent increase in anterior pituitary weight. FSH-releasing activity was present in the hypothalamus from the time of first measurement at 25 days of age and exhibited a small but significant decline at the time of vaginal opening. Puberty was associated more closely with body weight of the animals than with their chronological age and was associated with increase in pituitary, ovarian and uterine weights. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that increased release of FSH triggered by a release of FSH-RF is involved in the induction of puberty.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.