Abstract
An adreno-hypophyseal interrelationship has been strongly indicated by numerous lines of evidence. The experiments of Smith, 1 Richter and Wislocki, 2 Atwell, 3 and Cutuly 4 have shown that extensive atrophy of the adrenal cortex follows complete hypophysectomy in the rat. Collip and his co-workers 5 have established the elaboration of an adrenotropic hormone by the pituitary, and alterations in carbohydrate metabolism have been shown to follow the ablation of either or both glands. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Long 13 has suggested that the hypophysis may control sugar formation from protein through the mediation of the adrenal. Furthermore, Swingle, et al., 14 report life-prolonging effects from the administration of hypophyseal and anterior-pituitary-like extracts to adrenalectomized cats and dogs. The work of Kitagawa, 15 Wyman, 16 Martin, 17 Martin and Kroc, 18 and Corey and Britton 19 on the cessation of estrus following adrenalectomy and the restorative effects of cortico-adrenal extracts points in the direction of such an interrelationship.
The present study was designed to determine whether cortico adrenal extracts possess any estrus-restoring properties when administered to hypophysectomized rats. Three dozen female rats were obtained from the colony of the Wistar Institute,† of which 24 were of pure “Wistar” stock and 12 of the “red-eyed-yellow” Castle strain. All animals were between 5 and 7 months of age. The periodicity of the cycles of all rats was established by the vaginal smear method of Long and Evans 20 for 2 to 6 weeks prior to operation. Twenty-six animals were completely hypophysectomized† and a total of 34 individual tests were made.
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