Effects of Androgen upon Reproductive Organs of Normal and Castrated Fetuses with Note on Adrenalectomy. ∗

Abstract

This report deals with progress of studies designed to determine whether in placental mammals the normal, prenatal development of the reproductive organs is influenced by hormones. Recently it has been found that in unborn rats the number and size of the interstitial cells of Leydig may be increased experimentally by injecting gonadotrophin under the skin of the unborn. 1

In the present experiments the animals used were rats in which pregnancy was dated from the time of observation of copulation. Fetuses were killed at about one hour preceding the estimated time of normal parturition (21 days and 16 hours after copulation). After weighing a fetus, its pelvic region was fixed in Bouin's solution and sectioned serially at 10 μ. The sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin or with alum cochineal and orange G. Volumetric determinations were made by paper-weight method of Hammar, 2 using the formula of Boyden. 3 All sections of a gland were projected at a magnification of 200 diameters. The epithelium of each section was drawn by outlining the basement membrane. In Groups A to E (Table I) the “volume of the seminal vesicle” is actually that of the gland, of the ejaculatory duct and of the proximal portion of the ductus deferens (portion to point where right and left tubes begin to diverge). In Groups F to I it is the volume of the gland and of the ejaculatory duct.

To investigate the effects of androgen upon the reproductive organs of normal male fetuses, 13 mothers were given subcutaneous injections of testosterone propionate.‡ Injections were made daily on days 13 to 22 of pregnancy, the daily dose being 15, 10 or 5 mg (Group B). It was found that at autopsy the fetuses of injected mothers were smaller than those of controls.