Further Studies Concerning Testicular Function

Abstract

Fifty-four albino rats were divided into 4 groups: (1) normal controls, (2) castrated animals, (3) castrated animals injected with androtin (male sex hormone prepared from urine) and (4) normal animals injected with androtin. The androtin was prepared by extracting male urine with fat solvents. The injected rats each received from 8 to 10 bird units of androtin daily.

The results are shown in Table I. The weights of these animals are expressed in grams and the weights of the formalin-fixed organs as percentages of the total body weight. In the glands other than the sex glands, the difference between the weights of the glands in the control animals and of those in the injected normal animals is not sufficiently great to be of any significance. The seminal vesicles, the ventral and dorsal prostates all show an increase in weight of approximately 100% after the injection of androtin into normal rats. Other workers have stated that hormone prepared from the testes causes testicular degeneration. 1 If there was any testicular degeneration in the animals injected with androtin, it was not discernible by gross examination. The weights of the epididymises of the injected rats are slightly increased above those of the normal.