EFFECTS OF SEX HORMONES UPON BODY GROWTH, SKIN, HAIR AND SEBACEOUS GLANDS IN THE RAT¹

Abstract

FROM THE BEGINNINGS of endocrinology it has been generally believed that the sex hormones are somehow involved in the control of the growth of hair and of the texture of the skin. It is only recently, however, that the problem has begun to attract the serious attention of endocrinologists. In experimental animals administration of large amounts of estrogen for sufficient periods of time has been followed by a failure of regrowth of hair in rats (1, 2, 3) dogs (4) and guinea–pigs (5). In man Hamilton (6, 7) found that administration of androgens resulted in greater growth of body hair, and at the same time occasionally precipitated the onset of baldness. Hamilton (8) has also presented evidence that androgen is an incitant of acne and that this substance apparently stimulates secretory activity in human sebaceous glands.