Abstract
Clinical 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and some experimental evidence 8 9 10 11 12 indicates a definite but obscure interrelationship between the pituitary, the adrenal cortex and the gonads. It is surprising that a number of experimental workers have been unable to demonstrate a direct interrelationship between the adrenal cortex and the gonads. 13 14 15 16 17 However, Reichstein has recently isolated a male hormone-like substance from the adrenal cortex. 18
The stimulation of the prostate and seminal vesicles in castrated rats by injections of adrenocorticotropic extracts is herein reported. Adrenocorticotropic extracts were made from whole sheep pituitaries using the HCl-acetone method. The activity of the adrenocorticotropic preparations was tested in hypophysectomized 19 and in normal, immature, male rats. 20 Growth, thyrotropic and gonadotropic hormones were absent. When tested in squabs, the extracts were found to contain varying amounts of lactogenic hormone.
Both the testes and epididymes were removed from 21-day-old male rats. Injections were begun on the day following the operation and continued daily over a period of 9 days. The control castrated rats were uninjected. The experimental and control animals were sacrificed on the tenth day after castration. The adrenals and accessory sex glands (prostate, coagulatory gland and seminal vesicles) were removed, weighed, fixed in Susa or Bouin's fixative, and then sectioned and stained for histological examination.
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