EFFECT OF THE ESTROUS CYCLE ON THE ACTION OF TESTOSTERONE PROPIONATE ON THE ORGAN AND BODY WEIGHTS OF FEMALE RATS1

Abstract

IN A PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION (1) from this laboratory, it was reported that the ultimate effect of testosterone propionate on the primary and secondary sex organs of the female rat depended upon the presence or absence of recent corpora lutea at the time of the first injection. Thus, it was found possible to produce two entirely different sets of responses in the animals, depending on whether the male hormone was first administered to a) adults at estrus or b) to immature animals or to adults at diestrus. As only the primary and secondary sex organs were considered in the report mentioned above, a repetition of the experiment appeared to be indicated for the following reasons, a). To confirm the uniformity with which the changes could be reproduced, and b), to extend the investigation to inlude certain other organs, namely, the adrenal, kidney, liver and thyroid.