THE EFFECT OF CASTRATE URINE HORMONE ON THE TESTIS

Abstract

The effect of the hormone obtained from the blood and urine of menopausal or castrated women (1, 2) is so strikingly follicle-stimulating that at present many speak of this substance as the ‘follicle-stimulating hormone’. Since the work of Smith, Engle and Tyndale (3) showed that this substance maintained the tubular portion of the testis of the hypophysectomized rat, it became interesting to study its effect on the intact animal in order to note what additional influence it might have on normally developing testis. For this purpose, 40 albino rats of Wistar Institute strain, ranging from 30 to 108 days of age, were used. These were divided into 2 groups of 20 each, according to sexual maturity. Thus group 1 consisted of animals older, and group 2 comprised rats younger, than 45 days, the age at which normal testicular descent generally occurs (4). Half of each group was used for test purposes, while the other half served as litter-mate brother controls. All animals were kept under similar conditions, hav...