The effect of growth hormone alone or in combination with corticotrophin or together with the combination of oestradiol-17 beta and testosterone propionate, in adult rats hypophysectomized at the time of vaginal cornification.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Adult rats of the Long-Evans strain hypophysectomized at the time of vaginal cornification were treated with bovine pituitary growth hormone alone or in combination with varying doses of ACTH for 28 days. It was observed that growth hormone alone maintained the uterine weight at a level above that of the controls, and, in the ovaries, stimulated the thecal cells of the atretic follicles. These cells also were stimulated by periodate-treated growth hormone, which is considered to be completely free from any ICSH contamination. With the combination of growth hormone and ACTH, the uterine weight was higher than it was with growth hormone alone, and the uterine mucosa showed epithelial cells with vacuolated cytoplasm and proliferation of stromal cells. In the ovaries, the thecal cells of the atretic follicles were hypotrophic. In the absence of the adrenal glands, the uterine picture produced by the combination of these 2 hormones was no longer observed, and the thecal cells of the atretic follicles were again stimulated, as they were with growth hormone alone. The injection of oestradiol-17β (0.1 μg daily) in combination with testosterone propionate 2 mg daily) for 28 days to another group of rats, again hypophysectomized at the time of vaginal cornification, induced a cystic glandular hyperplasia in the uterus. The uterine epithelial cells, after this combined treatment, were abnormal, with enlarged nuclei and loss of cellular polarity. When growth hormone was injected together with * Present address: Istituto per lo studio e la cura dei tumori, Milano (Italy). the oestradiol-17β and testosterone propionate, a normal cellular pattern was observed in the uterine epithelium and the uterine weight was considerably higher than that obtained with the combination of oestradiol and testosterone propionate without the growth hormone.