Abstract
Collip 1 reported observations on the results of repeated inoculations of the thyreotropic hormone, in large amounts, over prolonged periods of time into white rats. He showed that, on injection of the thyreotropic principle of the pituitary, hyperplasia of the thyroid gland occurs and the metabolic rate rises sharply. However, continued injections fail to maintain this condition and the metabolic rate returns to normal in from 2 to 3 weeks and may even become subnormal. The animals fail to show any rise in metabolism on the administration of as much as 8 times the previously effective dose. The serum of animals, thus rendered refractory, will exert a protective effect against the activity of the hormone when injected into untreated animals. It does not protect, however, from the action of desiccated thyroid tissue. Anderson and Collip 2 have prepared a potent antithyreotropic serum by repeated injections into a horse. Similar “antihormones” inhibiting the action of the anterior pituitary-like hormone of pregnancy urine have been made and reported by Selye, Bachman, Thompson, and Collip. 3
In an attempt to confirm this work and to determine whether the same thing is true of the anterior pituitary-like hormone found in the urine of patients suffering from teratoma testis, we have injected a number of rabbits over prolonged periods of time. The anterior pituitary-like hormone was obtained according to the original method of Zondek 4 by precipitation of acidified fresh urine with 5 times its volume of 95% ethyl alcohol. The precipitate was washed 3 times with ether, dried, and stored in the ice box. Due to the difficulty of obtaining large amounts of the urine, the extracts were prepared from lots of 300 to 1000 ce. These were assayed separately for their potency by the injection of watery extracts into immature female mice. Most of the urine came from 2 patients and was found to contain 5,000 to 10,000 mouse units per liter.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.