Chorionic Gonadotropin Therapy Research Articles

Present Status of the Use of Male Sex Hormones and Chorionic Gonadotropins as Growth Stimulating Factors

The value of chorionic gonadotropin as a therapeutic agent in hypogenitalism and cryptorchidism, and of the testosterone compounds in eunuchoids and castrates, has been well established. Coincident with the improvement in the genital development of boys under chorionic gonadotropin therapy, an increase in the growth rate beyond the expected average was observed by Lurie and Hertzman (1), Dorff (2), Thompson (3), and by us. Rubinstein and Solomon (4–7) demonstrated an increase in body length of white rats following the administration of moderate doses of testosterone compounds. Webster and Hoskins (8) Rapfogel (9), Albright et al. (10), Brown and Ross (11) and Goldgieher (12) used testosterone propionate in children presenting growth deficiency and observed an increase in growth rate in these children and a few adolescents. There are several contradictory reports pertaining to the effect of various hormones on bone growth, bone density and epiphyseal union in rats, mice and guinea pigs.