Abstract
The recent availability of synthetic sex hormones for laboratory and clinical use has aroused new interest in their effect on somatic development. In an attempt to gather data concerning castration effects which could be used for comparison with stimulating or replacement effects of injected hormones, differences of opinion reported in the literature were found to be so striking 1 that it became necessary to establish our own standards for future comparison.
Accordingly, 32 male albino rats of Wistar stock were divided into 2 groups, one of which (16 animals) was castrated at 22 days of age while the other group of 16 served as unoperated controls. All animals were kept under similar conditions. 1 Weekly weights were determined for all animals while the body lengths were estimated (between the tip of the snout and anus) at the time of sacrifice on the 80th day of life. All data were statistically computed. In addition, theoretical body weight according to Formula No. 5 of Donaldson 2 was determined and this was compared with the observed terminal weight.
It was found that the initial body weight of 38.44±0.91 g for the castrates and 36.00±1.43 g for the normals were not significantly different from each other. The final mean body weight of the castrates was 192.0±3.85 g as compared to 217.88±3.40 g for the normal. This difference of 25.88±5.09 g in favor of the normal was probably significant. In addition, the final body length of 194.1±1.3 mm for the castrate as compared to that of the normal, 205.0±1.2 mm, showed a difference of 10.9±1.8 mm in favor of the normal. This, too, was a statistically significant difference.
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