The effect of testicular hormone on normal sexually mature rats. A method of biological assay

Abstract

IN the previous paper [Korenchevsky et al., 1933, 1] a study was made of the influence of a purified preparation of testicular hormone isolated from human urine on young normal rats, about one month old, i.e. on rats sexually immature at the beginning of the injections. The injected animals, as compared with the controls, showed depression of the development of the testes in most cases with small doses and in all rats with large doses. The prostate with seminal vesicles and the penis were, in most cases, slightly decreased in weight with small doses, whilstwith large doses an increase in weight was obtained and also an acceleration in the involution of the thymus and a slight increase in the growth of the kidney. No large or constant changes were found in the weights of the other organs or in the body weight. In the present paper a description is given of experiments per- formed on normal adult rats which had reached sexual maturity at the beginning of the injections.