Abstract
Summary and Conclusions
1. Some of our results confirm previous findings: hematocrits of rats castrated as adults are lower than those of intact animals; testosterone propionate returned hematocrits to normal after castration, but did not cause elevation in hematocrits of intact or castrated animals above normal. Estradiol benzoate did not significantly lower hematocrits of intact and castrate rats. 2. Other findings are new: hematocrits of neonatally castrated adult rats were not significantly different from those of intact adults of the same age, and thus differed from those of animals castrated as adults and examined 14 days later. Aqueous testosterone returned the hematocrits of castrates to normal. There was a trend in both intact and castrates for sesame oil to increase the hematocrit. Because sesame oil is widely used as a supposedly neutral vehicle for hormones, the possibility that it has an effect upon the hematocrit warrants further investigation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.