bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A NEW FLUORIMETRIC METHOD OF PLASMA CORTISOL ASSAY WITH A STUDY OF PITUITARY—ADRENAL FUNCTION USING METYRAPONE (SU. 4885)
Authors: RUDD B. T. , SAMPSON PHILLIDA , BROOKE B. N. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
To assay falling cortisol levels in the plasma during intravenous metyrapone infusion, a new spectrophoto-fluorimetric method has been devised. The advantages of this method are its ability to estimate low concentrations of cortisol, its precision, the small volumes of plasma required (1·0 ml.) and the rapidity with which results may be obtained (3–4 hr.).
The metyrapone test has been applied to discover its value as a clinical test of pituitary—adrenal function following steroid therapy, before subjecting patients to the stress of surgery. Tests were made on seven normal subjects, and fourteen patients with ulcerative colitis of whom eight had received steroids previously. Three patients in the steroid-treated group and one who had not received steroids previously failed to show a normal response. When subjected to operation, all four showed the usual elevation of plasma cortisol during operative stress. None of those having a normal response to the metyrapone test failed to show a normal plasma cortisol elevation during operation.
Metyrapone i.v. has therefore proved of uncertain value as a clinical test; the failure to respond in four cases did not prove to be an indication for the need for steroid therapy during surgery.
CHANGES IN THE MAMMARY GLANDS OF RATS AND MICE DURING PREGNANCY, LACTATION AND INVOLUTION
Authors: MUNFORD R. E. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The relationships between indices of histological structure and levels of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and lactose have been evaluated by estimating correlation coefficients from data for the rat and mouse, described in previous publications.
Estimates are presented for correlations between the group totals, at different stages of the lactational cycle, and for correlations within these groups. Estimates for the latter type of correlation, obtained separately for each of the eleven groups, were examined for heterogeneity. The correlations obtained are discussed with reference to known causal relationships and with particular regard to differences in the magnitude of the relationships between stages and within stages. In these results the within-stage correlation between level of DNA and histological measures of cell number was low.
EFFECT OF PROGESTERONE ON ADRENOCORTICAL HORMONE SECRETION IN NORMAL AND HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED RATS
Authors: SINGER BERTHA , LOSITO CARINE , SALMON SHEILA 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
In intact male rats fed on a normal diet, the subcutaneous administration of progesterone for 4·5 days resulted in a significant increase in the aldosterone secretion rate and a significant decrease in the corticosterone secretion rate as measured by the secretion of these hormones into adrenal vein blood of anaesthetized animals. In hypophysectomized rats the administration of progesterone for 5·5 days resulted in a significant increase in aldosterone secretion and a small, non-significant, decrease in the rate of corticosterone secretion. It is concluded that progesterone may influence the rate of secretion of aldosterone in pregnancy and that the mechanism by which this is achieved probably does not involve the pituitary gland.
UTERINE DECIDUOMATA: ROLE OF HISTAMINE
Authors: WRENN T. R. , BITMAN J. , CECIL HELENE C. , GILLIAM D. R. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
Intraluminal injections of air into pseudopregnant rat uteri were as effective as histamine in provoking the development of the artificial maternal placenta. Deciduomata induced by water or saline injection were similar in size to those caused by histamine dihydrochloride and only slightly smaller than those resulting from treatment with free histamine. A specific role for histamine as a deciduomata-inducing agent is not supported by these results.
THE SITE OF THE BLOCKING ACTION OF DEXAMETHASONE ON STRESS-INDUCED PITUITARY ACTH RELEASE
Authors: DE WIED D. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
Male white rats were injected subcutaneously with graded doses of dexamethasone acetate 16 hr. before exposure to noxious stimuli. The rate of corticosteroid production by adrenal glands in vitro served as an index of ACTH release. The corticotrophic effect of environmental changes was readily suppressed by pretreatment with 50 μg. of dexamethasone, 125 μg. blocked the effect of histamine phosphate, 250 μg. the effect of noise and at least 500 μg. were needed to suppress the effect of unilateral adrenalectomy.
The adrenal response to ACTH was not affected by pretreatment with dexamethasone. The effect of lysine vasopressin on ACTH release diminished with increasing amounts of dexamethasone; a complete block was obtained with 500 μg.
In rats bearing extensive lesions in the median eminence pretreatment with dexamethasone also suppressed the corticotrophic effect of lysine vasopressin and of hypothalamic extracts. Dexamethasone pretreatment did not significantly alter the ACTH content of the pituitary of intact, shamoperated or lesioned rats. It is concluded that the blocking action of dexamethasone is located in the anterior pituitary.
THE EFFECT OF OESTROGEN ANTAGONISTS ON THE UPTAKE OF TRITIATED OESTRADIOL BY THE UTERUS AND VAGINA OF THE OVARIECTOMIZED MOUSE
Authors: STONE G. M. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
17α-Ethyl-19-nortestosterone and MER-25 inhibited the early uptake of oestradiol by the uterus and vagina when both inhibitor and oestrogen were administered subcutaneously. The oestrogen-induced growth in the uterus and vagina was also inhibited by both compounds. Inhibition with 17α-ethyl-19-nortestosterone was greatest when it was injected at the same time as the oestradiol. It was not possible to obtain any inhibition of the oestrogenic response by systemic administration of dimethylstilboestrol although it seems that its oestrogenic metabolites will compete with the natural oestrogen for receptors in the target organ.
With intravaginal injection MER-25 inhibited the rapid uptake of oestradiol while 17α-ethyl-19-nortestosterone had no effect. However, the activity retained in the vagina 20–180 min. after the injection of oestradiol was decreased by 17α-ethyl-19-nortestosterone.
THE 131I-TRIIODOTHYRONINE-RESIN UPTAKE TEST
Authors: GODDEN JENNIFER D. , GARNETT E. S. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The results of 450 131I-triiodothyronine (T3)-resin uptake tests in euthyroid, hyper- and hypothyroid patients are described.
The effects of variation in the temperature and weight of resin on 131I-T3 uptake are demonstrated.
Limits of normality have been established for a group of 149 euthyroid patients. The 131I-T3-resin uptake test in euthyroid, hyper- and hypothyroid patients has been compared with the 4 and 48 hr. 131I neck uptake, the protein-bound iodine (p.b.i.) concentration and the basal metabolic rate (b.m.r.) as a test of thyroid status.
The results suggest that, as a single test for the estimation of thyroid status, the 131I-T3-resin uptake test is as reliable and more convenient than the more established test procedures.
EFFECT OF OESTRONE ON THE DELAY OF NIDATION, IMPLANTATION AND FOETAL SURVIVAL IN OVARIECTOMIZED RATS
Authors: NUTTING E. F. , MEYER R. K. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
Eighty-six female rats were ovariectomized 3 days after coitus and treated daily with 4000 μg. progesterone either alone, or in combination with 0·01–10 μg. oestrone from day 3 to day 8 after coitus. Ten additional animals with intact ovaries were treated daily with corn oil. Ovariectomized rats were treated with 4000 μg. progesterone and 1 μg. oestrone from day 9 to day 19, if nidation occurred by day 8, and from day 9 to 24, if implantation sites were absent 8 days after coitus. A delay of implantation usually occurred in animals treated with progesterone alone or in combination with 0·01, 0·03 or 0·1 μg. oestrone ('delay' class). Implantation occurred at about the normal time during treatment with progesterone combined with 0·3, 1 or 3 μg. oestrone and in non-ovariectomized animals treated with corn oil ('non-delay' class). Nidation was usually prevented permanently by 10 μg. oestrone in combination with progesterone. In the 'delay' class the addition of 0·01–0·1 μg. oestrone to progesterone did not alter the ability of blastocysts to undergo nidation or affect embryonic survival. In animals in the 'non-delay' class, nidation was induced with equal success when 0·3, 1, or 3 μg. oestrone were administered. Embryonic survival, however, was maximal in animals treated with 0·3 μg. oestrone and progressively less in rats treated with 1 and 3 μg. The number of implantation sites was larger in non-ovariectomized 'non-delay' animals than in ovariectomized 'non-delay' rats. The number of sites in the 'non-delay' class was consistently larger than the number of sites in the 'delay' class.
SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE HYPOTHALAMOHYPOPHYSIAL NEUROSECRETORY SYSTEM OF DESERT RODENTS
Authors: KHALIL F. , TAUFIC J. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
Seasonal changes in the content of neurosecretory material in the supra-optic and paraventricular nuclei and in the pars nervosa of the desert rodents Jaculus jaculus (Oliv.) and Gerbillus gerbillus (Linn.) were followed and compared with those in the white rat kept under laboratory conditions.
From the morphological characteristics it was concluded that neurosecretory activity in the desert rodent is minimal in December; signs of increased activity started in March, and maximal activity was reached in June. A decline of neurosecretory activity started in August and continued through the autumn season.
In the laboratory white rat, on the other hand, the neurosecretory system showed low activity the whole year round. The quantity of neurosecretory material in the pars nervosa was less in summer than in winter.
THYROTROPHIC HORMONE IN THE PLASMA AND ANTERIOR PITUITARY OF THE THYROIDECTOMIZED RAT
Authors: SALAMAN D. F. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The changes in plasma concentration and anterior pituitary content of thyrotrophic hormone (TSH) after thyroidectomy in the rat were followed by means of an in vitro assay method. A triphasic change in plasma TSH was demonstrated which consisted of a threefold rise by the 2nd day, a fall to the normal range by the 5th day, and a gradual rise from the 10th day, which continued for at least 6 weeks.
The initial rise in plasma TSH was accompanied by a fall in the pituitary TSH store after 5 days to 7 % of the normal value; the store then remained low for the next 6 weeks.
Thyroxine (as measured by protein-bound 131I) disappeared from the circulation after thyroidectomy at a rate compatible with the observed rate of rise of plasma TSH; 20 % remained after 2 days.
The replacement of thyroid hormone by exogenous thyroxine in thyroidectomized rats resulted in 4 days in a decline in plasma TSH concentration to a subnormal value. During the next 3 days the blood level of TSH rose to 400 % of the control level. Thyroxine administration caused a large increase in the pituitary store of TSH.
The results indicate that circulating thyroxine influences primarily the rate of release of TSH from the anterior pituitary, and that a slower effect on the synthesis of TSH may be indirect and secondary to changes in the TSH content of the pituitary gland.
WEIGHT AND HISTOLOGY OF THE PITUITARY GLAND IN CASTRATED MALE RATS WITH HYPOTHALAMIC LESIONS
Authors: MONTEMURRO D. G. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The effect of bilateral electrolytic lesions in the ventral hypothalamus at the coronal level of the posterior ventromedial nucleus and anterior premammillary nucleus on the weight and cytology of the pituitary gland of castrated male Lewis rats was investigated. All castrated rats were carrying successful intrasplenic isologous grafts of neonatal testes. The hypothalamic lesions resulted in a significant inhibition of pituitary hypertrophy in the castrated animals, but did not alter appreciably the cytology of the gland as compared with that of castrated rats without hypothalamic damage. The development of castration cells was not impaired by these lesions.
It is concluded that hypertrophy of the pituitary gland after castration and the development of castration cells are two manifestations of the pituitary response to a low concentration of circulating testicular hormone. The former requires the integrity of the posteroventral hypothalamus while the latter is independent of this hypothalamic region.
THE EXCRETION OF HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPHIN IN NORMAL PREGNANCY. AN IMMUNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION
Authors: CONNON AILEEN F. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The haemagglutination-inhibition test was investigated as an immunological method for the assay of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). The preparation of a potent antiserum to HCG is described. The results of the assay of HCG during normal pregnancy in ten patients are compared with the results of immunological assays from two Swedish laboratories. The mean values and the 95 % confidence limits for the excretion of HCG from the 10th week of normal pregnancy are calculated.
CYTOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE ADENOHYPOPHYSIS OF THE RABBIT AFTER CASTRATION
Authors: FOSTER C. L. , CAMERON E. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
An early effect of castration on the cytology of the rabbit adenohypophysis was found to be a hyperplasia of the mucoid cells of the zona tuberalis occurring simultaneously with a degranulation and decrease in the numbers of such cells in the lateral regions of the pars distalis proper.
A recovery from these changes was observed about 4 months after castration. There was then a moderate hyperplasia of the mucoid cells of the pars distalis proper and probably a depletion of mucoid cells in the zona tuberalis.
The possible significance of these findings is briefly discussed.
THE EFFECTS OF N-ETHYLMALEIMIDE AND GLUTATHIONE ON THE ISOLATED RAT UTERUS AND FROG BLADDER WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ACTION OF OXYTOCIN
Authors: BENTLEY P. J. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
1. The effect of oxytocin on both the rat uterus and frog bladder is abolished by solutions of 1 mm N-ethylmaleimide (NEM).
2. NEM, however, has a variety of effects on these tissues. It inhibits sodium transport across the bladder, it prevents relaxation of the uterus and the return of water transfer to normal after it has been affected by oxytocin, and it inhibits contraction of the uterus by acetylcholine.
3. Reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG) inhibit the action of oxytocin on the uterus reversably and this inhibition is competitive.
4. GSH and GSSG also inhibited the increase in water transfer by oxytocin across the frog bladder, GSSG was more potent. Sodium transport across the bladder was transiently reduced by GSH and decreases by about 50% in the presence of GSSG.
5. The results are discussed in relation to the possible mechanism of interaction of neurohypophysial hormones with their receptors. It is concluded that both S-S and SH groups are present at the receptor sites in both the rat uterus and frog bladder.
EFFECT OF GONADAL HORMONES, GONADOTROPHINS AND THYROXINE ON PLASMA FREE FATTY ACIDS IN THE DOMESTIC FOWL
Authors: HEALD P. J. , ROOKLEDGE K. A. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The effects of oestrogens, testosterone, thyroxine, avian and mammalian gonadotrophins and of fasting, on the plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels in the domestic fowl were investigated. Oestrogen treatment increased the levels of plasma FFA simultaneously with those of the total lipids and lipophosphoprotein in the immature fowl. Testosterone and thyroxine decreased the levels of plasma lipids and of lipophosphoprotein in the laying fowl, but had no effect upon the levels of plasma FFA in either the immature or laying fowl. Gonadotrophins were without effect upon the plasma FFA in the immature pullet but increased the levels in laying or moulting birds, the increases being accompanied by marked follicular growth. Fastings increased the level of plasma FFA in immature birds, but decreased the levels of FFA and total lipid in laying birds. Injections of large doses of hog anterior pituitary extract were without effect on the plasma FFA in conscious immature pullets but induced marked increases in the plasma FFA and a gross lipaemia in the rabbit. It is considered that the increases in plasma FFA found when the bird comes into lay are an indirect result of ovarian stimulation by pituitary hormones.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROGESTATIONAL ACTIVITY AND CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF SYNTHETIC STEROIDS
Authors: SUCHOWSKY G. K. , BALDRATTI G. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
Forty-two synthetic steroids have been studied for which certain relationships between chemical structure and progestational activity could be established. Thus, unsaturation and esterification in pregnane derivatives enhances progestational potency. Of the 4-dehydro derivatives, the 6α-CH3 and the 6α-fluoro compounds were the most active. Progestational potency on oral administration was increased in the 4-hydroxy derivatives. In the group with the 1:4-dehydro configuration, the basic activity of the parent compound was increased only by the introduction of a 6α-chloro or fluoro group. The 4:6-dehydro derivative showed an increase in potency on oral administration of about the same extent on introduction of a 6-chloro, a 6-fluoro or a 6:16α-dimethyl group.
Only in the group of pregnane derivatives did changes of the parent molecule lead to a considerable increase in potency to inhibit ovulation. Since the maintenance of pregnancy in spayed animals is a parameter of progestational activity, it is felt that the results in animals are difficult to compare with those in female patients.
STEROID BIOSYNTHESIS 'IN VITRO' BY GRANULOSA-THECA CELL TUMOUR TISSUE
Authors: GRIFFITHS K. , GRANT J. K. , SYMINGTON T. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The metabolism of [4-14C]progesterone and [4-14C]androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (androstenedione) by a granulosa-theca cell tumour of the ovary, 310 g. in weight, removed from a 43-year-old post-menopausal woman has been studied in vitro.
The experiments provided no evidence that the tumour could utilize progesterone as an oestrogen precursor. However, the tumour tissue converted androstenedione to oestrone and oestradiol-17β. The major metabolite of progesterone was 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one.
These results are discussed in relation to current theories of the synthesis of steroids in the ovary.
OESTROGEN: THE NATURAL STIMULANT OF BODY DEFENCE
Authors: NICOL T. , BILBEY D. L. J. , CHARLES L. M. , CORDINGLEY J. L. , VERNON-ROBERTS B. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
1. The defence mechanisms of the body are predominantly functions of the reticulo-endothelial system (RES). Stimulation of the RES leads to increased body defence indicated by increased phagocytic activity, raised serum γ-globulin and increased protection of experimental animals against virulent infections. The strongest RES stimulants appear to be oestrogens, natural and synthetic.
2. In the mouse, 0·002 mg. diethylstilboestrol daily is sufficient to produce significant prolongation of survival time against infection.
3. RES activity varies at different stages of the oestrous cycle and of pregnancy in both the rat and the mouse. The stages where the activity is greatest correspond with those in the human subject when the output of oestrogens is increased.
4. The results suggest that oestrogen is the natural stimulant of body defence in both the male and female, the latter having high oestrogen levels when protection against infection is normally most needed.
5. RES stimulation does not rise in step with oestrogenicity, and oestrogenic compounds have two separate biological activities—one which stimulates the RES to raise body defence, and one which acts on the reproductive organs; these two activities are apparently unrelated, although shared by the same molecule.
PERMANENT ISOLATION OF THE ADENOHYPOPHYSIS FROM HYPOTHALAMIC CONTROL IN RATS WITH DIABETES INSIPIDUS
Authors: KENNEDY G. C. , PARKER R. A. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
Electrolytic lesions in the posterior part of the median eminence of rats caused diabetes insipidus, and aldehyde-fuchsin-positive material disappeared from the infundibular process but not from the hypothalamus. The lesions were consistently followed by infarction of the central pars distalis and depression of the thyroid uptake of radioactive iodine, but the effects on the gonads and adrenal cortex were very variable. Chronic adrenal atrophy occurred in some females in association with recurrent pseudopregnancy, atrophic but hyperluteinized ovaries, and cytological changes in the pituitary similar to those in ectopic grafts. After a short post-operative period of pseudopregnancy other rats recovered normal cycles and had, in general, adrenals of normal weight; their pituitaries resembled ectopic grafts returned to the median eminence. It is suggested that the difference between the two groups of rats with chronic lesions depended on the permanence or otherwise of the damage to the long portal veins. No evidence could be found of a separate corticotrophin-releasing mechanism in the median eminence, nor of any dependence of the secretion of corticotrophin on the release of vasopressin.
THE CHROMATOGRAPHY ON DEAE-CELLULOSE OF PITUITARY EXTRACTS FROM SEVERAL SPECIES
Authors: WALLACE A. L. C. , FERGUSON K. A. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
The distribution, potency and yield of growth hormone (GH), prolactin, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) activities and the electrophoretic behaviour on starch gel have been studied in fractions obtained by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose of pituitary extracts from man, sheep, ox, pig and whale.
In none of the species examined was the distribution of hormonal activities identical. GH, TSH and FSH in the sheep and ox, and GH and LH in the pig and whale, appeared in corresponding fractions. The prolactin activities from the five species were found in closely similar elution volumes. The hormonal activities of the human extract occurred over a much smaller range of distribution volumes than those of the other species. The GH fractions from all five species and the prolactins from sheep and ox were relatively potent preparations.
Starch gel electrophoresis showed a number of components in all fractions. The distribution of components in corresponding fractions was different for each species, although some components had similar mobilities.
These results add to the growing evidence of the species-specific nature of pituitary hormones and to the information available for evolving comprehensive fractionation systems for each species.
A STANDARD FOR THE LONG-ACTING THYROID STIMULATOR (LATS) IN THE SERUM OF PATIENTS WITH THYROTOXICOSIS
Authors: DORRINGTON K. J. , MUNRO D. S. 
Published: December 2008

SUMMARY
1. A dry powdered standard for the long-acting thyroid stimulator (LATS) has been prepared and shown to be satifactory when tested, at weekly intervals, over a period of 18 months.
2. The difficulties encountered in earlier attempts to establish the standard are discussed.
3. Although supplies of the LATS standard are limited it is hoped that there will be sufficient to supply it to other laboratories so that substandards may be set up by the methods described in this paper.