Mammary Hypertrophy Research Articles

THE TREATMENT OF FEMALE MENOPAUSE WITH MALE SEX HORMONE

THE TREATMENT of menopause in the female was a difficult problem until Tthe discovery of female sex hormone and its value. Male sex hormone has only recently been available in sufficient amount to permit its use thera-peutically. Butenandt (i), Koch (2), and others have reported that some of the un-saturated androgens, notably androstenedione and dehydroandrosterone, will induce estrus in the normal infantile rat. Browman (3) reported the cessation of estrous cycles in adult normal rats injected with androsterone and testosterone. Nelson and Gallagher (4) found that androstanediol and androstenedione failed to produce vaginal cornification, but did induce uter-ine and mammary hypertrophy and prevented castration changes in the hypophysis. Testosterone and androstanedione induced definite mammary proliferation and enlargement of the uterus while androsterone and deny droandrosterone failed to produce such changes. Transandrostenediol failed t o influence the cycles or to significantly affect the ovaries, m...

Effects of Androgenic Substances in the Female Rat.

Butenandt and others (see Koch) have reported that some of the unsaturated androgens, notably androstene-dione and dehydro-androsterone, will induce estrus in the normal infantile rat. Brow-man reported the cessation of estrous cycles in adult normal rats injected with androsterone and testosterone. In spayed rats Nelson and Gallagher found that androstane-diol and androstene-dione failed to produce vaginal cornification, but did induce uterine and mammary hypertrophy and prevented castration changes in the hypophysis. The administration of testosteronef (0.5 and 1.0 mg. daily), androsterone (1.5 mg. daily), dehydroandrosterone (1.0 mg. daily) and androstane-dione (1.0 mg. daily) to groups of 2 to 4 spayed female rats for 30 days failed in every case to produce vaginal cornification (as determined by daily smears and histological section). In all cases castration changes were completely or almost completely prevented. Testosterone and androstane-dione in all instances induced definite mammary proliferation and enlargement of the uterus. Androsterone and dehydroandrosterone failed to induce changes in the mammary glands or uterus. The above androgens, and in addition, androstene-dione, cis-androstenediol and trans-androstenediol have been administered to groups of 2 to 5 adult normal female rats for 16 to 30 days. Daily vaginal smears were made, in each instance, for at least 2 weeks prior to the initiation of and throughout the period of treatment. Normal 4 to 5 day cycles were present in all animals prior to treatment. Testosterone at the one mg. daily level completely suppressed cycles in one and partially suppressed them in 2 rats. At the 2.0 mg. daily level cycles were completely suppressed (3 animals). The mammary glands showed stimulation and the uteri were enlarged. At the 1.0 mg. level the ovaries appeared unaffected, but at 2.0 mg. the corpora lutea were enlarged. The hypophyses showed degranulation of the basophiles.

The Mammary Gland in the Normal Adolescent Male

The mammary gland of the human male, though generally dismissed as vestigial, deserves more attention than it has received. Like its counterpart in the female, it is subject to both inflammatory and neoplastic disease. It occasionally increases to such a size that the resulting gynecomastia becomes a medical or surgical problem, and actual lactation has been reported repeatedly. Although the phrase “mastitis adolescentium” occurs in the literature, we have not found any data on the frequency of this condition nor on the behavior of the gland in the normal pubescent boy. Unpublished observations on 49 boys in southern Wisconsin convinced Jung that a certain degree of mammary hypertrophy must be a regular feature of normal pubescence. The present study of a larger series was undertaken partly for the purpose of testing the correctness of this conviction, and was made possible by the generous cooperation of the Department of Public Welfare of the State of Illinois. One purpose, then, was to obtain data analysis of which would give a chronology of the mammary changes as compared with the other phenomena of puberty. Hence the following observations were made: date of birth; weight; height; bi-iliac diameter; color of hair; amount∗ of hair on the pubes, in the axillae, on the face (i. e., cheeks, upper lip, and chin), and on the chest; diameter of right areola; height of right nipple above surrounding skin; size∗ of the subareolar node on the right; height of left nipple above surrounding skin; size∗ of the subareolar node on the left; pitch of voice; sizes of right and left testicle. The quantities marked ∗ had to be, of necessity, graded in arbitrary units from 0 to ++++. The bi-iliac diameter was taken with an obstetrical caliper.

The functional correlation between the ovaries, uterus, and mammary glands in the rabbit, with observations on the œstrous cycle

Recent experimental work has resulted in proving that there is a definite functional correlation between the growth of the corpora lutea in the ovaries and the hypertrophy of the mammary glands (Ancel and Bouin and O’Donoghue). In the present paper experiments are described showing that this hypertrophy in rabbits that have never been pregnant may be so considerable as to lead to the production of milk, the secretion of which may be temporarily increased by the injection of pituitary extract. Further experiments are recorded showing that the uterus is not a necessary factor in the development of the mammary gland. The influence of experimentally produced corpora lutea upon the uterus is also described.The Influence of the Ovaries upon the Mammary Glands.It is well known that the mammary glands in man begin to undergo enlargement at the time of puberty in correlation with the increase in ovarian activity. Apart from this pubertal growth which is more or less permanent, there is known frequently to be a slight swelling of the glands at each menstrual period. A similar process takes place in the sow and probably in other mammals at the “ heat ” periods (Marshall). In the virgin rabbit we have noticed a growth of the mammary duets in six cases prior to ovulation, but the cell proliferation, though quite definite, did not extend to the glandular tissue. Experiments were undertaken to determine if the growth could be increased by injecting fœtus extract, with a view to bringing further evidence to hear upon the hypothesis, put forward by Starling and Lane-Claypon, that the anabolic changes involved in mammary hypertrophy are dependent upon a foetal hormone. The results, however, were negative in each case.