Abstract
The effects of castration upon the anterior hypophysis and accessory sex organs are well known and have been interpreted as resulting from the withdrawal of one or more testicular hormones. Recently, in a study involving an examination of the hypophyses, testes, seminal vesicles, and prostates from 73 cryptorchid and 52 castrate rats it was shown 1 that elevation of the testis into the abdomen (experimental cryptorchidy) at the 40th day of life produced results similar, although retarded, to castration. Changes which definitely indicated a decreasing output of testicular hormone were apparent in the hypophysis regularly at 75 days and in the seminal vesicles at 240 days, post-operation. In the prostates the changes up to 400 days post-operation are barely suggestive of a hormone threshold slightly below that necessary for prostatic maintenance. These results may be correlated with the hormone required for the maintenance of the respective end-organs. 1
The hypophyses of 360 day cryptorchid rats present a picture similar to that of advanced castration. Cell counts, which have been made regularly, show a marked increase in basophiles, a slight decrease in acidophiles, a more marked decrease in chromophobes, and many castration cells. The testes show no evidence of spermatogenesis and the epithelium of the seminiferous tubules is reduced to Sertoli cells with few if any spermatogonia. Interstitial cells appear to be more numerous, but it is not certain that the increase is more than an apparent one coinciding with tubular decrease. The cells of the seminal vesicle epithelium are low cuboidal to fiat and without secretion granules. The prostates are essentially normal in size and cytology. It would seem that the testes of 360-day cryptorchid rats are secreting a small amount of hormone, i. e., enough for prostatic maintenance, but not sufficient to maintain normal seminal vesicles and hypophyses.
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