Abstract
Recent results obtained by Smith and Engle 1 by daily hypophyseal homeo and heterotransplants in mice and rats led to an investigation of the effect of daily injections of fresh rabbit pituitary gland on an hypophysectomized puppy. Aschner 2 published striking photographs of hypophysectomized puppies of various ages which had remained infantile in appearance and size until sacrificed.
Evans and Long 3 found that fresh anterior lobe fluid given intraperitoneally to immature rats produced gigantism. Later, this extract was found to stimulate hypophysectomized rats to normal growth but failed to affect their sex glands. Smith, 4 using fresh pituitary glands of rats, was able completely or in large measure to cure the disabilities arising from hypophysectomy in immature rats. Smith and Engle 5 were able to induce precocious sexual maturity both in immature and in hypophysectomized rats, in 2 animals within 36 hours, by these fresh daily transplants. By means of the intracranial approach of Dandy and Reichert 6 a total hypophysectomy was performed on a 6 weeks old female puppy and the base of the brain in the infundibular region cauterized by heat. This animal was constantly kept with her control litter mate, also female. After months of observation, she remained infantile, failed to grow, retained the puppy face and hair, failed to erupt permanent teeth and exhibited infantile genitalia, indicative that a total hypophysectomy had been performed.
Six months after hypophysectomy when 7 1/2 months old, weighing 4.2 kilos and when the control had attained adult size and weighed 9.3 kilos, fresh whole rabbit's hypophysis was given subcutaneously every day by the technic described by Smith and Engle. 1 Within 48 hours the vulva were definitely swollen and within 3 days became so greatly distended as to protrude 3 cm. from the body.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.