bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OVARY OF THE RAT
Authors: Eckstein Benjamin
Published: December 2008

The response of ovarian weight, uterine weight, and enzyme activity of succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) to chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and serum gonadotrophin (PMS) treatment at various ages of the developing rat were compared. The greatest response was found at the age of about 30 days. While the uterine weight increases to the same extent as a result of HCG and PMS treatment at all ages examined, the ovarian weight increase and the enzyme activity of SDH are different for these two gonadotrophins. The possible reasons for the maximal reactivity at the age of 30 days are discussed.
HYPERPLASIE LIPIDIQUE DIFFUSE DE L'ÉCORCE SURRÉNALIENNE
Authors: Bernheim Philippe
Published: December 2008

The unsuspected discovery of a marked bilateral hyperplasia of the adrenal cortex in a young 22 year old epileptic patient led us to investigate the constitutional factor involved in this conditions.

Its characteristic are:

Complete absence of endocrine symptomatology.

Lipoid clogging of the zona fasciculata. This layer is the site of »cellular renewal«: the lipoid cells tend to disappear and are replaced by numerous young cells derived from the interstitial tissue and which proliferate in the underlying layer.

We believe that this hyperplasia is due to a localized disorder of the fat metabolism the mechanism of which is not understood.
MODIFICATION BY OESTROGENS OF THE REACTION OF THE RAT'S MAMMARY GLAND TO ANDROGENS
Authors: Jacobsohn Dora
Published: December 2008

The investigation is concerned with the question, whether the mammary gland of the rat reacts with alveolar growth to androgens alone or to the combined actions of androgens and oestrogens. Since it is difficult to deprive a rat of oestrogens, the study was performed under conditions in which the gland itself either does or does not react to oestrogens. The results were as follows:

Experiments on hypophysectomized rats treated with insulin and cortisone. – This treatment makes the glands responsive to oestrogens. Administration of oestrogens resulted in alveolar development in response to endogenously produced androgens (males injected with PMS) as well as to testosterone injections (gonadectomized rats).

Experiments on hypophysectomized rats. – The glands do not react to oestrogens. – Injections of oestrogens together with PMS or testosterone resulted in the abnormal reaction known to occur in the mammary glands of hypophysectomized rats given androgens alone. Alveoli were absent.

Confirming previous results with testosterone, the mammary glands of hypophysectomized males injected with PMS reacted abnormally and the reaction was not normalized by simultaneous treatment of the hypophysectomized rats with insulin and cortisone.

The hitherto confusing results obtained by other workers who studied the effects of growth hormone and prolactin on the mammary glands of hypophysectomized rats are discussed, in view of the present finding that a response of the rat's mammary gland to oestrogens is a prerequisite for the production of alveolar lobule development by androgens.
ASSAY OF SUBCUTANEOUSLY ADMINISTERED ANDROGENS ON THE CHICK'S COMB
Authors: Dorfman R. I. , Dorfman A. S.
Published: December 2008

The comb response of day old chicks was used to assay androgens administered by subcutaneous injection using both corn oil and aqueous tween vehicles. The use of the oil vehicle afforded a more precise assay method and the comb response was higher than when the aqueous vehicle was employed. When the tween vehicle was used and an arbitrary value of 100 assigned to the activity of testosterone the following relative potencies were found: androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (17), androst-5-ene-3β,17β-diol (49), dehydroepiandrosterone (65), and 19-nortestosterone (35). Using the corn oil vehicle and again setting the activity of testosterone as 100, the following relative potencies were recorded: androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (21), 17β-hydroxyandrostan-3-one (370), and testosterone propionate (395).
REACTIONS OF THE TWO TYPES OF A CELLS IN THE ISLETS OF LANGERHANS AFTER ADMINISTRATION OF GLUCAGON
Authors: Hellerström Claes , Hellman Bo
Published: December 2008

Repeated subcutaneous injections of crystalline glucagon resulted in a rapid loss of body weight in 5 weeks old rats allowed free access to food. In spite of the large glucagon doses employed (0.3–0.4 mg per rat a day) there was no glycosuria or morphological evidence of an increased insulin secretion from the B cells in the islets of Langerhans. While the nuclear areas of both the islet B and A1 cells decreased by 4.4%, a more pronounced and highly significant nuclear atrophy was noted in the A2 cells. After 5 days' treatment with glucagon the nuclear size ratio A2/B was reduced from 0.94 to 0.91 (t = 2.69; P < 0.02). As a consequence of the regressive changes in the A2 cells the nuclei of these cells were smaller than those of the A1 cells in all 10 glucagon treated rats analysed. The finding of a considerable nuclear atrophy of the A2 cells lends support to the hypothesis that these cells produce glucagon.
FRACTIONAL DETERMINATIONS OF URINARY 17-KETOSTEROIDS IN HYPEREMESIS GRAVIDARUM
Authors: Järvinen Pentti A. , Pesonen Sykkö , Väänänen Pirkko
Published: December 2008

The fractional determination of 17-ketosteroids in the daily urine was performed in nine cases of hyperemesis gravidarum and in four control cases, in the first trimester of pregnancy both before and after corticotrophin administration.

The excretion of total 17-KS is similar in the two groups. Only in the hyperemesis group does the excretion of total 17-KS increase significantly after corticotrophin administration.

The fractional determination reveals no difference between the two groups of patients with regard to the values of the fractions U (unidentified 17-KS), A (androsterone) and Rest (11-oxygenated 17-KS).

The excretion of dehydroepiandrosterone is significantly higher in the hyperemesis group than in the control group.

The excretion of androstanolone seems to be lower in the hyperemesis group than in the control group, but the difference is not statistically significant. The differences in the correlation between dehydroepiandrosterone and androstanolone in the two groups is significant.

The high excretion of dehydroepiandrosterone and low excretion of androstanolone in cases of hyperemesis gravidarum is a sign of adrenal dysfunction.
URINARY EXCRETION OF PREGNANETRIOL IN THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE. I
Authors: Pickett Mary T. , Kellie A. E.
Published: December 2008

Using the method of Stern (1957), pregnanetriol fractions have been prepared from urine samples of a healthy woman during phases of minimal and maximal pregnanetriol excretion. Examination of these fractions by bismuthate oxidation and by gradient elution chromatography has confirmed that the increase measured by the Stern method is, indeed, mainly due to 5β-pregnane-3α,17α,20α-triol.

A similar fraction obtained during the luteal phase of an ovulatory cycle in an adrenalectomized woman has been purified by adsorption and partition chromatography and shown by infrared spectroscopy to contain 5β-pregnane-3α,17α,20α-triol.
BIOASSAY OF THYROID HORMONE USING HYPOTHYROID TADPOLES
Authors: Henriques U.
Published: December 2008

A bioassay of thyroid hormone has been developed using Xenopus larvae made hypothyroid by the administration of thiourea. Only tadpoles of uniform developmental rate were used. Thiourea was given just before the metamorphotic climax in concentrations that produced neoteni in an early metamorphotic stage. During maintained thiourea neotoni, 1-thyroxine and 1-triiodothyronine were added as sodium salts to the water for three days and at the end of one week the stage of metamorphosis produced was determined. In this way identical dose-response curves were obtained for the two compounds. No qualitative differences between their effects were noted except that triiodothyronine seemed more toxic than thyroxine in equivalent doses. Triiodothyronine was found to be 7–12 times as active as thyroxine.
MYXOEDEMATOUS COMA WITH EXTREME HYPOTHERMIA IN A PATIENT TREATED WITH A THYROID PREPARATION OF A VERY LOW BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY
Authors: Brune D. F. , Gastel C. van , der Kinderen P. J. , Schwarz F. , Pennekamp J. D.
Published: December 2008

A case of myxoedematous coma in a young woman is described. The patient had been treated with good results since infancy with desiccated thyroid but deteriorated after using a thyroid preparation of very low activity for a year. Although there was severe hypothermia on admission the patient survived. Treatment consisted of triiodothyronine orally, and corticosteroids. A tracheotomy had to be performed. The biological inactivity of the drug responsible for the coma was demonstrated by the goiter prevention test.
TESTOSTERONE-SENSITIVE CENTERS IN THE HYPOTHALAMUS OF THE RAT
Authors: Lisk Robert D.
Published: December 2008

Microgram quantities of testosterone implanted in the basal tuberal-median eminence region of rats led to ovarian atrophy or atrophy of the seminal vesicles, prostate and testis thirty days later. Implantations in other areas of the diencephalon or in the pituitary gland did not result in weight changes in the sexual organs. The female showed a greater sensitivity to the testosterone implants than did the male. In the male, the degree of atrophy produced, appeared dependent upon the surface area of hormone present in the tuberal region, and considerable decreases in the weight of the sexual organs were noted without apparent changes in physiological function. The data suggest that the basal tuberal-median eminence area of the hypothalamus acts as the focus for »negative feedback« in the control of gonadotrophin secretion from the pituitary gland of the rat.
EFFECT OF ADRENALECTOMY ON SURVIVAL AND TUMOUR GROWTH IN RATS WITH EXPERIMENTAL OVARIAN TUMOURS
Authors: Kullander Stig
Published: December 2008

Survival after adrenalectomy was studied in rats, intact or spayed, and spayed rats with ovarian tissue transplanted into the spleen (operated at 3 weeks of age).

Ovaries in situ or ovarian transplants in the spleen prolonged survival after adrenalectomy at 2 months of age.

In animals adrenalectomized at 12 months – by which time ovarian tumours had developed in the spleen – survival was longer in animals with ovarian tumours than in animals with ovaries in situ.

The ovarian tumours in the spleen continued to grow after adrenalectomy and showed no signs of regression.
THE ASSAY OF ORALLY ADMINISTERED FLUOXYMESTERONE IN THE CASTRATED RAT
Authors: Dorfman Ralph I.
Published: December 2008

An oral assay 10-day procedure for bioassay of androgens is described using the immature castrated male albino rat and the end-points of seminal vesicles, ventral prostate, and levator ani tissues. No particular gain in precision could be achieved by extending the assay procedure beyond ten days. Using single daily doses and an aqueous suspending medium, the λ value for the seminal vesicles was 0.210, for the ventral prostate it was 0.190, and 0.218 for the levator ani. The present experiments were carried out with fluoxymesterone.
A SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTION ASSAY FOR ANTI-ANDROGENS IN THE CHICK
Authors: Dorfman Ralph I.
Published: December 2008

The stimulating action of testosterone on the chick's comb can be inhibited by the subcutaneous injection of 0.1 mg of norethisterone or Ro 2-7239 (2-acetyl-7-oxo-1,2,3,4,4a,4b,5,6,7,9,10,10a-dodecahydrophenanthrene), 0.5 mg of cortisol or progesterone, and by 4.5 mg of Mer-25 (1-(p-2-diethylaminoethoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-2-p-methoxyphenyl ethanol). No dose response relationship could be established. Norethisterone was the most active anti-androgen by this test.
INFLUENCE OF PROGESTATIONAL AGENTS ON THE GENETIC FEMALE FOETUS OF ORALLY TREATED PREGNANT RATS
Authors: Kincl Fred A. , Dorfman Ralph I.
Published: December 2008

6α-Methyl-17-acetoxyprogesterone administered orally to pregnant rats between the 15th and 20th day of gestation produces in the genetic female pups, distinct masculinization including blind vaginas, absence of vaginal orifices, enlarged prostates, decreased distance between the vaginal orifice and urinary papilla, and at the highest dosage studied, an increase in the anogenital distance. 6-Chloro-Δ6-dehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone even at high doses showed no masculinizing effects.

Norethisterone did not influence the female pups on any of the parameters except that at the higher doses, there was some decrease in the distance between the vaginal orifice and the urinary papilla.
STUDIES OF THE EFFECT OF HYPOTHALAMIC EXTRACTS ON SOMATOTROPHIC PITUITARY FUNCTION
Authors: Franz J. , Haselbach C. H. , Libert O.
Published: December 2008

The presence of a »Somatotrophin-Releasing Factor« (SRF) in acetic-acid extracts obtained from dog hypothalami was demonstrated by three kinds of assays: an »in vitro« test derived from that of Saffran & Schally (1955 b) for the measurement of CRF; a modification of the tibia test, performed on intact immature female rats; and measurement of the weight gain of immature female rats during prolonged treatment. The extracts were active only on intact animals, and not directly on hypophysectomized ones.

The activity was not observed in other parts of the brain than the hypothalamus region.

Crude post-pituitary extracts were contaminated with SRF, although the synthetic neuro-hormones were not »somatotrophin-releasing« substances. SRF is therefore different from vasopressin.
THE EFFECT OF LYNESTRENOL) ON ANIMAL REPRODUCTION
Authors: Overbeek G. A. , Madjerek Z. , Visser J. de
Published: December 2008

Lynestrenol is a potent oral pregestagen. The oral activities in the Clauberg and Corner & Allen tests are of the same order as that of subcutaneously administered progesterone. No effect was found in the tests for deciduomagenic activity in the mouse and for the maintenance of pregnancy in the rat.

Lynestrenol has a marked inhibitory action on ovulation in the rat. This effect can be enhanced by low doses of oestrogen, which themselves are inactive in this respect. The main cause of this effect seems to be an inhibition of the development of the follicles.

Lynestrenol is a weak oestrogen with an activity of about 1–2% of that of ethinyloestradiol. Its effects on fertilized ova in the rat are in agreement with what could be expected from its oestrogenic activity. There is little or no effect on nidation.

Lynestrenol is a weak androgen, the oral activity in the rat amounting to 1/3–1/4 of that of methyltestosterone. 5. Acute and chronic toxicity studies demonstrate the absence of any general toxicity.
EFFECTS OF REDUCTION OF THE 3-KETONE OF 17α-ETHYNYL-19-NORTESTOSTERONE ON ITS ENDOCRINE PROPERTIES
Authors: Elton Richard L. , Nutting Ehard F. , Saunders Francis ].
Published: December 2008

17α-Ethynyl-4-estrene-3,17-diol and its C-3 and C-17 esterified analogues were studied for progestational, oestrogenic and androgenic properties. In addition, oestrogen-antagonistic and anti-progestational effects were determined and compared with those of 17α-ethynyl-19-nortestosterone. All of the steroids studied had progestational and oestrogen-antagonistic properties. Within the limits of the tests employed, all of the agents except 17α-ethynyl-19-nortestosterone had definite oestrogenic activity and produced antagonism of progesterone-induced proliferation of the uterine epithelium in rabbits. Thus, reduction of the 3-ketone of 17α-ethynyl-19-nortestosterone markedly alters the endocrine profile of the steroid imparting oestrogenic and anti-progestational effects in addition to the progesterone-like and oestrogen-antagonistic effects. The oestrogenic effects could be correlated with the ability of the agents to interrupt pregnancy in rats. Androgenic activity, though reduced to minimal levels, was not totally absent following these structural alterations.
EFFECT OF AN ANABOLIC STEROID ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF GRANULATION TISSUE IN VARIOUS NUTRITIONAL STATES
Authors: Viljanto J. , Isomäki H. , Kulonen E.
Published: December 2008

The administration of an anabolic steroid (17α-methyl-17β-hydroxy-androsta-1,4-dien-3-one) to rats improved the tensile strength of experimental granulation tissue and of healing skin wounds on the 12th postoperational day. This, however, only occurred in undernourished animals which showed a retarded development of connective tissue. This difference is also reflected in the collagen content of the granulation tissue. The treatment caused a slight increase in the tensile strength in all the feeding groups on the second postoperational day.
A BIOCHEMICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF ADRENAL TISSUES FROM PATIENTS WITH CONN'S SYNDROME
Authors: Brode E. , Grant J. K. , Symington T.
Published: December 2008

Tumours removed surgically from patients with primary aldosteronism were investigated by histological and biochemical procedures. The formation of 1 1β-hydroxyprogesterone-14C from progesterone-14C by tumour but not normal cortical tissue homogenates has been demonstrated. The significance of this substance in the biosynthesis of aldosterone is discussed. The ratio of 17-hydroxy to 17-deoxy C21 steroids formed in vitro by tumours and zones of normal adrenal cortex has been determined and an attempt has been made to use this ratio to determine the origin of the cells of the aldosterone secreting tumours.
INHIBITION OF OVULATION AND CHANGES IN OVARIAN MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES INDUCED BY THYROIDECTOMY IN RABBITS
Authors: Thorsøe Hans
Published: December 2008

Radical surgical thyroidectomy in rabbits, restricts the ability of the ovaries to ovulate following mating. Nine out of 20 thyroidectomized rabbits had severe polycystic ovaries. The ovaries of mated thyroid-ectomized rabbits had a higher content of water, corresponding to a given hexosamine concentration, than the ovaries of non-mated thyroidectomized, and of intact rabbits. After ovulation, the follicular fluid changed from metachromatic to orthochromatic in the thyroidectomized rabbits. These findings are discussed in relation to the theory that pre-ovulatory growth of the follicles is due to an increase in the colloid-osmotic pressure within the follicles caused by enzymatic depolymerization of acid mucopolysaccharides.
INSENSITIVITY OF OVARIAN MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES TO SYSTEMIC L- AND D-THYROXINE TREATMENT
Authors: Thorsøe Hans
Published: December 2008

The effect of 1-thyroxine and d-thyroxine on the content of mucopolysaccharides in rabbit ovaries was studied histologically and biochemically. The doses of 1-thyroxine and d-thyroxine completely blocked the pituitary release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as shown by the inhibition of 131I release from the thyroid gland. The treatment with 1-thyroxine as well as with d-thyroxine was continued for 15 and 30 days respectively. 1-Thyroxine brought about a loss of weight in the rabbits and caused a decrease in ovarian weight.

d-Thyroxine produced no loss of weight and did not affect the ovarian weight.

Neither 1-thyroxine nor d-thyroxine altered the gross appearance of the ovaries. Histological examination showed the quantity, distribution, and intensity of metachromatic substance to be identical in all experimental groups. Autoradiography showed no changes in the distribution of the 35S-containing mucopolysaccharides. Neither 1-thyroxine nor d-thyroxine altered the ovarian concentration of water or hexosamine, or the uptake of 35S-sulphate.
HISTOLOGICAL CHANGES AND BLOOD SUGAR FLUCTUATIONS IN THE MARINE TELEOST COTTUS SCORPIUS FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATION OF THE SULFHYDRYL INHIBITOR IODOACETIC ACID
Authors: Falkmer Sture
Published: December 2008

Iodoacetic acid (IAA) administered to Cottus scorpius in single or repeated intramuscular injections slightly less than the L. D. 50 and up to sublethal dosages evoked a moderate hyperglycaemia in about 1/3 of the animals. There were practically no concomitant morphological changes in the pancreatic islet tissue. In the kidneys and the liver, histological changes were found such as a diffuse and patchy degeneration of the renal tubules and small liver necroses. The myocardium and brain were unaffected.

The hyperglycaemia found was provisionally considered not to be of pancreatic origin and IAA therefore regarded as a nondiabetogenic sulfhydryl inhibitor.
QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION OF ADRENOCORTICAL HORMONES AND THEIR α-KETOLIC METABOLITES IN URINE
Authors: Cost W. S. , Pol J. , Korten A.
Published: December 2008

Urinary corticosteroid patterns were estimated in patients with adrenocortical insufficiency.

In patients with secondary adrenocortical hypofunction (Panhypopituitarism) the patterns reflect an abnormally low secretion of cortisol, corticosterone and Reichstein's S. The ratios between these corticosteroids are not altered. Aldosterone secretion can be temporarily normal or even increased. The THF/THE-ratio is elevated and this is presumably due to a diminished production of thyroid hormone.

In patients with primary adrenocortical hypofunction (Addison's disease) the patterns reflect an abnormally low secretion of corticosterone and aldosterone. Initially the secretion of cortisol can be within the normal range. The secretion of Reichstein's S is often normal or even increased. The ratios between the corticosteroids are altered in that the F/B-ratio is high and the F/S-ratio low. These characteristics, presumably due to excessive adrenocortical stimulation by endogenous ACTH, can be helpful in differentiating the two kinds of adrenocortical insufficiency and in diagnosing Addison's disease when the excretion of cortisol and its metabolites is still within the normal range.
EFFECT OF TRICHLORACETIC ACID ON BASOPHILS AND ON CORTICOTROPHIN CONTENT OF HUMAN PITUITARY GLANDS: EXTRACTION OF LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT CORTICOTROPHIN
Authors: Currie A. R. , Davies Beryl M. A.
Published: December 2008

Experiments are reported which show that 2.5% trichloracetic acid (TCA) causes marked loss of periodic acid-Schiff staining of the basophil granules of the pituitary gland and that there is extraction of some ACTH into the TCA. There is, however, no direct correlation between the basophil changes and the extraction of the hormone from the gland. The vesiculate chromophobe, the colloid and the cytoplasmic granules of the acidophils are not apparently affected by TCA treatment.

Little is known about the chemical state of storage of ACTH in the human adenohypophysis. The amino acid structure and sequence of human ACTH has recently been proposed but there is as yet no chemical basis for a histochemical technique specific for ACTH.

The 2.5% TCA-extractable ACTH, which represents about 30% of the total ACTH activity of batches of 'old' pituitary glands, has been characterized by ultrafiltration, Sephadex column chromatography and ultracentrifugation as a single component of minimum molecular weight about 3200. This is a simple method for extracting low molecular weight ACTH-extraction in 2.5% TCA (or water acidified to pH 5.0) for 1 hour at 4° C followed by ultrafiltration and Sephadex column chromatography. About 68% of the original activity in the TCA extract is recovered in the final product. Extraction was equally efficient whether 'pieces' or homogenates were used and in the presence or absence of posterior lobe tissue. Autolysis results in a decrease of both residual gland and TCA-extractable hormone.
PATTERN OF 17-KETOSTEROID URINARY EXCRETION IN INFERTILE MEN
Authors: Furuhjelm Mirjam , Johnson Birgit , Lagergren C.-G.
Published: December 2008

The pattern of the 17-ketosteroid excretion determined according to Johnsen (1956) in a group of 33 sterile men was compared with that in another group of 14 men with proved fertility, and no difference was found. No correlation between 17-ketosteroid excretion and the concentration of sperm cells or the percentage of abnormal cells could be detected. The results are discussed.
DISTRIBUTION AND FATE OF 131I IN THE MAMMALIAN OVARY
Authors: Bengtsson G. , Ewaldsson B. , Hansson E. , Ullberg S.
Published: December 2008

In an autoradiographic investigation 131I was found to be concentrated in the ovarian follicles of mammalian ovaries. Up to 4 hours after intravenous administration of 131I-iodide accumulation was mainly found in the walls of large Graafian follicles. After 24 hours the concentration was highest in the follicular fluid.

Precipitation and dialysis experiments indicated that the radioactivity was mainly present as iodide ions and no significant incorporation into organic compounds was observed.
UNTERSUCHUNGEN ÜBER DEN STOFFWECHSEL VON 17α-METHYLÖSTRADIOL-17β BEIM MENSCHEN
Authors: Breuer H. , Schikowski Ursula
Published: December 2008

5.5 mg of 17α-methyloestradiol-17β were injected intramuscularly into each of 3 male subjects. After enzymatic hydrolysis with β-glucuronidase the urinary excretion of 17α-methyloestradiol-17β, oestrone, oestradiol-17β and oestriol was studied. The total excretion of 17α-methyloestradiol-17β amounted to 0.6% of the injected dose. The excretion of oestrone and oestradiol-17β remained unchanged, whereas an increase was observed in the oestriol fraction. This increase was due to a Kober chromogen which is possibly a metabolite of 17α-methyloestradiol-17β.
A SENSITIVE SIMPLE QUANTITATIVE REACTION FOR IODINATED AMINO ACIDS OF HUMAN SERUM ON PAPERCHROMATOGRAMS
Authors: Postmes Th.
Published: December 2008

A simple quantitative reaction for iodinated amino acid spots on paper-chromatograms is described. The method is a modification of the Ferrichloride, (potassium) FerriCyanide, Arseneous acid reaction (F. F. C. A.). This modified reaction has the advantages:

The spots obtained are well defined and well contrasted against the background.

Qualitative and quantitative determinations can be done simultaneously at any time.

The approximate sensitivity range for thyroxine is between 0.1–0.005 μg.

More than thirty determinations can be done in 7–8 hours.
ETHINYLOESTRADIOL IN THE PRE-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF A SEVERE CASE OF CUSHING'S SYNDROME DUE TO ADRENOCORTICAL HYPERPLASIA
Authors: Norman N. , Vogt J. H.
Published: December 2008

An extremely severe case of Cushing's syndrome due to adrenocortical hyperplasia is presented. The patient was treated with 0.5 mg of ethinyloestradiol four times daily for 106 days with short interruptions. The treatment caused a clinical remission with correction of the abnormal biochemical characteristics of the disease. The output of corticosteroids fell markedly, and the maximal response capacity of the adrenal cortex was reduced. Stressful stimuli continued to elicit an increase in corticosteroid excretion, and the pituitary-adrenal feed-back mechanism was preserved at the lower level of adrenocortical activity. It became evident, however, that the treatment in this patient did not provide a complete cure, and bilateral adrenalectomy was performed. Further trial with oestrogen treatment in this disease is recommended.
COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF THE POTENTIATION OF CORTICOTROPHIN ACTIVITY BY SEVERAL INACTIVE DERIVATIVES
Authors: Cohen Arthur I. , Frieden Edward H.
Published: December 2008

A number of corticotrophin analogues have been prepared, some of which potentiate the biological activity of the untreated hormone in vitro. The free amino groups of corticotrophin appear to be essential not only for hormonal activity, but also for the interaction of the analogues with the tissue corticotrophin inactivating system which is assumed to account for the potentiating effect.
STUDIES ON THE MECHANISM OF DECIDUALIZATION. I.
Authors: Shelesnyak M. C. , Kraicer Peretz F. , Zeilmaker Gerard H.
Published: December 2008

The concept of an oestrogen surge as a prerequisite for successful decidualization of the progravid uterus and consequently nidation in the rat was tested. Experiments were designed to see whether administration of an oestrogen antagonist at specific times would block decidualization (and nidation); whether the ovary was the source of the oestrogen, and whether a single dose of oestrogen, in the absence of the ovary (if the ovary is the source) would allow the uterus to respond to a decidualizing stimulus. It was found that when given prior to the surge, the oestrogen antagonist prevented decidualization and interfered with nidation. The ovary is thus the source of the oestrogen; and a single injection of oestradiol can act as a substitute for the surge.
SOME INTERACTIONS OF STEROIDS, PYRIDINE NUCLEOTIDES AND ENZYMES
Authors: Villee Claude A.
Published: December 2008

The rate of reduction of DPN by crystalline glutamic dehydrogenase is increased by the addition of corticosterone or progesterone at concentrations of 10−6 m or 10−8 m. The enzyme preparations were tested and found to be free of any transhydrogenase activity. No increase in rate could be demonstrated when these steroids were added to comparable systems of malic, lactic, or alcohol dehydrogenase, which transfer hydrogen to side 1 of the pyridine nucleotide, or with α-glycerophosphate or glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, which transfer hydrogen to side 2 of the pyridine nucleotide. Thionicotinamide DPN, but not TPN, 3-pyridine aldehyde DPN, deamino DPN, or 3-acetyl pyridine DPN, when substituted for DPN with glutamic dehydrogenase gave a system that responded to added steroids.
THE ASSAY OF ORALLY ADMINISTERED ANDROGENS USING THE CHICK'S COMB
Authors: Dorfman Ralph I. , Dorfman Adeline S.
Published: December 2008

A method for the assay of androgens is described whereby the test material mixed with the food is fed for 7 days starting with day-old chicks and the comb weight used as the end-point.

When testosterone was assayed against itself, the mean potency ratio for 24 trials, using from 36 to 80 chicks per trial, was 105% (range 69% to 141%). Statistically significant differences could not be found for the slopes, and λ varied from 0.13 to 0.40 (mean = 0.248). The following relative potencies (testosterone = 100) were found: 19-nortestosterone 76, androst-4-ene-3,17-dione 71, methyltestosterone 63, 11α-hydroxy-androst-4-ene-3,17-dione 57, 11β-hydroxy-androst-4-ene-3,17-dione 39, adrenosterone 32, androstane-3,17-dione 24, 17β-hydroxyandrostan-3-one 14, dehydroepiandrosterone 7, epiandrosterone 6, 17α-methyl-androst-5-ene3β,17β-diol 5.
THE HYPOTHALAMUS AND PROPYLTHIOURACIL-INDUCED GOITRE IN THE RAT
Authors: van der Werff ten Bosch J. J. , Swanson H. E.
Published: December 2008

Adult female rats were given a normal diet, or a diet which contained 0.15% propylthiouracil. At the beginning of the experiment one half of the rats were left intact, whilst the others received an electrolytic basal midline lesion in the anterior hypothalamus. Of each of the four groups of rats, one half was killed after 14 days, the others after 28 days. It was found (both after 14 and after 28 days) that the presence of a lesion reduced the thyroid weight to approximately 75% of the value in intact rats on the same diet, which might be normal or contain propylthiouracil. Propylthiouracil caused thyroid enlargement (to 278% after 14 days and 352–360% after 28 days) in intact rats as compared with intact rats on a normal diet, and in lesioned rats as compared with lesioned rats on a normal diet.

It is concluded that lesions cause a lowered steady state of the thyroid-pituitary feed-back system, but that this system responds normally to the alteration of the steady state caused by the propylthiouracil-induced block in thyroid hormone output.
INITIAL EFFECT ON THE THYROID FUNCTION FOLLOWING RADIOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN PITUITARY GLAND
Authors: Notter Gustaf
Published: December 2008

Following destruction of the human pituitary gland by implantation of 90Y-spheres*, the thyroid function was studied by measuring the radioiodide uptake, the protein-bound radioiodine in the serum (PB131I) and the protein-bound stable iodine in the serum (PBI).

In order to decide whether these changes were specific to the damage of the pituitary gland and not due to operational stress or anaesthetics, they were compared with those patients operated on for head and neck diseases. Measurements of the early uptake of 132I in both groups was slightly decreased during the first 4 postoperative hours and rose after 6 hours. In the controls it remained above the preoperative level during the whole period of observation (7 days). In the »hypophysectomized« group it began to decrease rapidly 3 days after implantation and reached extremely low values.

The PB131I-concentration in »hypophysectomized« patients during the 2nd and 3rd day after implantation was about 4–5 times as high as in the controls, it then diminished quickly, and 11 days after operation was about 7–8 times lower than in the controls.

The PBI-concentration in the serum of the »hypophysectomized« patients showed a greater decrease after 12 days than did that of the controls. The study showed the time-response relationship between disturbance in the TSH production and thyroid function after destruction of the pituitary.
PITUITARY HORMONE PRODUCTION AND RELEASE IN THE THYROIDECTOMIZED RAT AFTER THYROXINE ADMINISTRATION
Authors: Contopoulos A. N. , Koneff A. A. , Jameson J. D.
Published: December 2008

Female rats of the Long-Evans strain were thyroidectomized at 35–40 days of age and 56 days later were placed into three groups each receiving injections 1, 2 or 3 μg of thyroxine per day for four days. Uninjected thyroidectomized and normal rats were used as controls. Twenty-four hours after the last injection the pituitaries and plasma were bio-assayed as a measure of pituitary hormone production and secretion. The minimal effective dose in hypophysectomized recipients in terms of whole anterior pituitary, or fraction thereof, are as follows: normal control pituitary – TSH, 1/16; FSH, < 3; ICSH, 1; GH> 1/16; thyroidectomy – TSH, 1/8–1/4; FSH, > 5; ICSH, > 5; GH, 3. Thyroxine administration restored the TSH pituitary content to normal at 1 μg dose, and increased it further at the 2 and 3 μg dose. The pituitary content of GH increased from the post-thyroidectomy levels to near normal levels with increasing doses of thyroxine. The ICSH content of the pituitary was influenced by the administration of thyroxine but no effect was obvious in FSH content. GH was not detectable in plasma of thyroidectomized rats but was present in the plasma of animals receiving 2 or 3 μg of thyroxine. Thyrotrophic hormone content of plasma was decreased after administration of thyroxine. Gonadotrophin was not detected in any plasma. The above changes in hormonal content preceded the reappearance of normal pituitary cytology.
GENERAL ASPECTS OF IODINE METABOLISM IN SPORADIC GOITRE
Authors: de Crombrugghe B. , Beckers C. , De Visscher M.
Published: December 2008

Studies on iodine metabolism were performed in 17 patients with sporadic non-toxic goitre. A group of 11 normal subjects served as control.

These investigations show that goitrous patients are at least iodine deficient: there is a low urinary excretion of stable and radioactive iodine with high thyroid uptake of radioiodine. Various rate constants of the iodide cycle in the body have been calculated. In particular, the concentration of stable iodide in the plasma as well as the pool of inorganic iodine are significantly reduced as compared with controls. The great avidity of the thyroid allowed an equal accumulation of stable iodine per unit of time in goitrous and non-goitrous subjects.

Iodine deficiency undoubtly plays a role in the pathogenesis of sporadic non-toxic goitre in Belgium.

The importance of lack of iodine is discussed in relation to other goitrogenic factors.
THE IN VITRO BIOSYNTHESIS OF 18-HYDROXYCORTICOSTERONE-4-14C BY SLICES OF ZONA GLOMERULOSA OF BEEF ADRENALS AND BY HUMAN ADRENALS
Authors: Sandor Thomas , Lanthier André
Published: December 2008

The in vitro steroidogenesis of the zona glomerulosa of beef adrenals and that of human adrenals was investigated. Tissue slices were incubated in a Krebs-Ringer - bicarbonate medium containing 200 mg% of glucose with progesterone-4-14C and corticosterone-4-14C as precursors. After incubation the media were extracted exhaustively with chloroform and the dry residue of the solvent extract fractionated on paper chromatographic systems. The identity of one of the 14C transformation products produced from both precursors was investigated in detail. The substance absorbed ultraviolet light (λmaxEtOH: 241 mμ), but reduced alkaline blue tetrazolium only very slowly.

The mobility of the unknown alone and diluted with inactive carrier was identical with that of the 20→ 18 cyclic hemiketal of 18-hydroxycorticosterone. The identity of the biosynthetic material with the closed form of 18-hydroxycorticosterone was established by isotopic dilution techniques and the formation of derivatives. It was observed that the compound can exist in at least three different tautomeric forms. The yield of 18-hydroxycorticosterone with beef zona glomerulosa was 3.8% from progesterone and 6.8% from corticosterone.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OVARY OF THE RAT. III
Authors: Eckstein B. , Shain H.
Published: December 2008

The response of ovarian and uterine glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) activity to serum gonadotrophin (PMS) treatment at various ages of the developing rat was studied. The greatest response (62.2 per cent increase in the ovary and 74.5 per cent increase in the uterus) were found at the ages of 31–33 days.

Growth hormone and oestrogen administration caused an increase in ovarian weight with no rise in GOT. It is therefore concluded that the action of gonadotrophin on GOT activity in the ovary is specific.

All sex hormones examined, (oestrone, testosterone and progesterone) which had a stimulating activity on the immature rat uterus, induced an increase of GOT activity in this organ. Growth hormone also stimulated growth of the uterus, but reduced its GOT activity. This indicates a difference between the growth promoting action of growth hormone and of the sex hormones on the uterus.

As the GOT stimulating effect of PMS was induced in hypophysectomized rats, it is concluded that this effect is not mediated by the hypophysis.
STUDIES ON A SEROLOGICAL PREGNANCY TEST: III
Authors: Kaivola S. , Kiistala U. , Axelson E.
Published: December 2008

Improvement has been made in a serological haemagglutination inhibition method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in urine, using a highly purified, immunologically homogenous HCG in the preparation of antisera and in the coating of blood cells. Furthermore agar diffusion tests have been carried out with a view to clarifying the immunological nature and homogeneity of the HCG used.
BESTIMMUNG DER INSULINAKTIVITÄT IM MENSCHLICHEM SERUM NACH GLUKOSEBELASTUNG ALS PRÜFUNG DER FUNKTIONSFÄHIGKEIT DES PANKREAS
Authors: Daweke H.
Published: December 2008

Using the method of glucose-1-14C oxydation to 14CO2 on the rat epididymal adipose tissue, the insulin-like activities (ILA) in the serum have been compared before and after oral loading with glucose in normal subjects, in maturity-onset diabetics and in insulin-requiring diabetics. In maturity-onset diabetics mean fasting values were found to be 30% below normal while in insulin-requiring diabetics they were 85% above normal. In normal subjects there was observed, 30 minutes after glucose loading, a moderate increase in blood sugar together with an increase of ILA of 222% above the starting value; in maturity-onset diabetics the increase in ILA was only 106% while the blood sugar was markedly increased. After glucose loading in maturity-onset diabetics, the total amount of insulin detected during the period of the experiment was, on the average, only 45% of that found in normal subjects. In insulin requiring diabetics there was no increase but, on the contrary, a steady decrease of the ILA values, while the blood sugar excessively increased. In general ILA values were higher than those in maturity-onset diabetics. No difference in response was found between maturity-onset diabetics treated with diet alone and those treated with diet and oral hypoglycaemic drugs. In contrast to the absolute ILA values, the index of insulin reserve, is of value in assessing the functional capacity of the pancreas. This index decreases progressively with the severity of the disease and reaches a maximum of 54% of the normal in maturity-onset diabetics, which can satisfactorily be explained by pancreas insufficiency.

Only in some cases of insulin-requiring diabetics was an insulin reserve still detectable. The biological inactivity of the insulin circulating in the blood can be deduced from the increased ILA-values, as compared with those found in maturity-onset diabetics. Obviously some of this insulin can be released by the addition of glucose. It is likely that, in addition to pancreatic insufficiency, insulin-binding or insulin-inactivating antibodies play a part in the pathogenesis of insulin-requiring diabetes.
ÉTUDE DE L'ACTIVITÉ BIOLOGIQUE IN VITRO DES HORMONES GONADOTROPES
Authors: Gospodarowicz D. , Legault-Démare J.
Published: December 2008

Human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and lactogenic hormone (LTH or prolactin) were found practically inactive on the incorporation of 14Cacetate into cholesterol of normal rat corpus luteum in vitro. On the contrary, when added simultaneously to the incubation medium, they increased by 90% the labeling of cholesterol.

When pseudopregnancy corpora lutea were used, HCG alone stimulated to the same amount, but no stimulation was observed with LTH alone. These results show that the stimulation of cholesterol synthesis is produced by a synergic action of LTH and HCG, LTH being introduced either in vivo (pseudopregnancy) or in vitro.
OESTRIOL METABOLISM IN THE PREVIABLE HUMAN FOETUS)
Authors: Mikhail G. , Wiqvist N. , Diczfalusy E.
Published: December 2008

Four previable foetuses (17th to 21st week of gestation) were perfused with 2 to 3 microcurie amounts of oestriol-16-14C. Approximately 90% of the radioactivity present in the different organs of the perfused foetuses was in a conjugated form. More than 90% of the conjugated material was identified as oestriol-3-sulphate.

Evidence was obtained indicating the presence of oestriol-16(17?)-glucosiduronate and of a sulpho-glucosiduronate-like double conjugate in extracts of the liver, alimentary tract and perfused blood. A highly polar metabolite of oestriol was also detected, but was not identified.

More than 70% of the radioactivity present in the blood perfused through the foetuses was in a conjugated form 77% of which was oestriol-3-sulphate.
PREGNANCY MAINTAINING EFFECT OF SYNTHETIC PROGESTOGENS IN THE RAT
Authors: Suchowsky G. K.
Published: December 2008

Ten steroids (progesterone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone-17α-caproate, 6α-methyl-17α-hydroxyprogesterone-17α-acetate, 1,2α-methylene-6-chloro-Δ6-17α-hydroxyprogesterone-17α-acetate, 17α-hydroxy-19-norprogesterone-17α-acetate, 17α-hydroxy-19-norprogesterone-1 7α-caproate, 17α-methyl-19-nortestosterone, 17α-ethyl-19-nortestosterone, 17α-ethinyl-19-nortestosterone, 17α-allyl-estr-4-en-17β-ol) were tested for their pregnancy-maintaining effect in spayed pregnant rats. In three of these steroids the ratio between progestogen and oestrogen was determined.

Pregnancy in rats was also maintained by combining 17α-hydroxyprogesterone-17α-caproate (one single dose) and 17α-ethinyl-19-nortestosterone (given daily).
SUCCINATE TETRAZOLIUM REDUCTASE ACTIVITY IN THE DEVELOPING RAT THYMUS
Authors: Kahri A. I. , Hannuksela M. , Karaharju E. O.
Published: December 2008

Postnatal development of the rat thymus was studied. Succinate tetrazolium reductase activity, expressed as μg formazan per gram of fresh thymus tissue, remained unchanged from the 3rd to the 294th day after birth. The activity of the enzyme was also found to be unchanged histochemically during the postnatal life of the rat. The thymus attained its maximum weight, about 500 mg, at the age of 50 days. Thereafter it decreased steadily, amounting to some 175 mg in rats about 250 days of age.
HYPOPHYSECTOMY IN PREGNANT RATS
Authors: Angervall Lennart , Lundin Per M.
Published: December 2008

The authors have studied foetal development and the dependence of the foetal endocrine organs upon the maternal hypophysis. A slight but significant reduction of the birth weights was obtained after hypophysectomy on the 12th or 13th day of gestation. The foetuses exhibited a hypoplasia of the thyroid, pancreatic islets and gonads. Possible reasons for these changes are discussed.
THE SERUM PROTEINS IN DIABETES MELLITUS IN RELATION TO VASCULAR COMPLICATIONS
Authors: Skanse Bengt
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACT

Electrophoretic analysis of the serum protein pattern in 110 patients with diabetes mellitus of varying duration and severity confirmed that the α2-globulins are often increased and that the albumin is often decreased.

It was found that the γ-globulins may either be decreased or increased.

When the β-globulins are increased, the increase is due to an increase of the β2-globulin fraction.

The incidence of the protein changes is about equal in patients with and without vascular complications.
ÉTUDE COMPARATIVE DES EFFETS SEXUELS DES ANDROGÉNES NATURELS
Authors: Meyer C. J. , Krähenbühl Ch. , Desaulles P. A.
Published: December 2008

A study was made of the activities exerted by the following naturally occurring androgens on the male sexual receptors of the capon and of the castrated male rat, and also of their inhibitory action on the oestrous cycle and gonadotrophic functions in the rat: testosterone, androsterone, androstenedione, adrenosterone, 11β-hydroxy-androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, 17α-hydroxy-progesterone, and progesterone.

When the effects of these androgens were investigated on a large number of receptors, the results revealed the differences in the spectrum of activity of each of the substances.

Thus, for example, adrenosterone has an androgenic effect in castrated rats which is much greater than in the capon (corresponding to 50% and 5% respectively, of the activity of testosterone), whereas the difference in the androgenic effect exerted on the two species is much less marked in the case of androsterone and androstenedione. 17α-hydroxy-progesterone, on the other hand, displays marked activity on the capon's comb after local inunction, but has only a slight effect on the sexual adnexa of castrated rats. Of all the androgenic receptors investigated only the ventral prostate responds to treatment with progesterone.

Of all the compounds included in this study, only 11β-hydroxy-androstenedione has an anabolic/androgenic ratio greater than testosterone, whereas with all the other compounds the ratio is less.

Although the degree of inhibition exerted on the oestrous cycle is in all instances equivalent to less than 1/10 of that of testosterone, the anti-gonadotrophic activity as evidenced by experiments on parabiotic animals shows considerable variations from one steroid to the other. It is very high for androsterone and androstenedione (60% of that of testosterone), diminishes in the case of adrenosterone (20% of that of testosterone), and is even weaker in the case of 11β-hydroxy-androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, 17α-hydroxy-progesterone, and progesterone, which has only 10% the activity of testosterone.

The correlations between the different types of action and their possible implications are discussed.
SEPARATION ET EVALUATION DE LA TETRAHYDROALDOSTERONE PAR CHROMATOGRAPHIE SUR PAPIER
Authors: Pasqualini Jorge R. , Legrand Jean-C. , Jayle Max-F.
Published: December 2008

We describe a chromatographic method that permits the separation of urinary 3α,11β,21-trihydroxy-5β-pregnan-20-one-18al (tetrahydroaldosterone) and its quantitative evaluation.

The excretion of this steroid is 20 to 35 μg/24 h in the urine of normal subjects, 150 to 200 μg in pregnancy urines and 190 to 210 μg in those of children with a nephrotic syndrome.

The separation of two unknown steroids X3 and X4 reducing blue tetrazolium is also described.