Effect of Oestrin and Gonadotropic Hormone Injections upon Hypophysis of the Adult Rat

Abstract

Moore and Price 1 studied the effect of gonad hormones upon the anterior pituitary lobe cells. The writer examined the similarity between the hypophyses of normal adult rats injected with oestrin and those injected with gonad-stimulating preparations. The material includes the hypophyses from 23 males, 21 females, 32 castrated males, and 23 spayed females which had been injected daily with from 15 to 50 R. U. of oestrin, as Theelin in oil,∗ for 28 to 48 days; 22 males and 29 females injected daily with 50 to 150 R. U. of Antuitrin-S for 14 to 35 days; 11 males and 23 females injected daily with 15 R. U. of a sheep pituitary extract for 12 to 25 days; and 5 males and 7 females injected daily with 30 to 40 R. U. of an extract of pregnant mare serum. In addition, the hypophyses from 13 castrated males, 11 spayed females, and 14 cryptorchid males which had received daily 50 to 100 R. U. of Antuitrin-S for 10 to 30 days have been studied. 2

At the termination of an experiment the hypophyses were removed with the gonads and sex-accessories, weighed and fixed for study. For the hypophyses, Zenker-formol, Zenker-formol-acetic, Regaud's or Champy's fluids have been used. A modified Mallory, iron-hemotoxylin, Altmann's or Severinghaus technique have been employed in staining these pituitaries.

There are certain differences in the hypophyseal picture, depending upon the amount and duration of treatment. The principal and characteristic findings are as follows: With the exception of castrates receiving Antuitrin-S, whose pituitaries were in no way altered, 2 the typical pictures in the hypophyses of all the above animals were very similar. The most striking effect has been a pronounced decrease in the number of normal basophiles.