Abstract
Eighteen female monkeys were used. Nine, averaging 2685 gm. in weight, were injected with various hormones; and 9, averaging 2732 gm., were kept as controls. The mammary gland of the monkey grows as a flat sheet of tissue in the connective tissue beneath the skin. The area of the gland increases from puberty to maturity. It serves as an indicator of size. Group A in Fig. 1 shows the area of the mammary tissue in the controls. The size varies from 0.02 to 0.24 sq. decimeter. Group B gives the area of mammary tissue from 2 animals injected for 9 days with a total of 2550 rat units of theelin. Group C shows animals injected for 9 days with 2550 rat units of theelin each and for 15 days with 1500 R.U. of corpus luteum extract each. Three animals (Group E) were injected for 44 days with a total of 9200 rat units of theelin.
In order to discover whether follicular fluid from the monkey's own ovaries might have an effect upon the mammary gland, 2 animals (Group D) were given 4 cc. daily for 16 and 17 days of a crude alkaline extract from the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. 1 The ovaries averaged 1.61 gm. in weight and were filled with medium sized follicles. The controls averaged 0.133 gm. in weight and showed only an occasional medium sized follicle. The area of the mammary glands was 0.06 sq. decimeter, which is within the range of the controls.
The buds branching from the ducts of the theelin-injected animals did not appear macroscopically to be increased in number compared with the parenchymal tissue of control animals. It is quite probable that larger doses over a longer period of time might show a marked effect.
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