Sex Differences in Pituitary Gonadotrophic Function of Protein-Deficient Rats

Abstract

Regression of reproductive organs following protein deprivation and /or hypophysectomy was compared in female and male rats in order to determine the effects of protein-free diets on gonadotrophin secretion from the pituitary gland. In female rats weights and histologic appearance of sex organs were similar in protein-depleted and hypophysectomized animals, but male reproductive organs were less severely affected by absence of dietary protein than they were by removal of the pituitary gland. When hypophysectomy was superimposed on protein deficiency, testis weight and function declined significantly. Adrenalectomy of male proteindepleted rats had no demonstrable effect on the reproductive system. (Endocrinology75: 716,1964)