EFFECT OF NEONATAL GONADECTOMY ON THE CONCENTRATION OF GONADOTROPHINS IN THE PLASMA DURING DEVELOPMENT IN THE GUINEA-PIG

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Abstract
In children with gonadal dysgenesis (45, X0), the concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) are greatly raised during infancy, fall between the ages of 6-10 yr to approach the values for normal children and then rise sharply at about the time puberty would have been expected. The cause of the pubertal rise in gonadotropin secretion, or of the fall during late infancy, is not known. To see whether this effect occurred in a laboratory species which could be used for further studies, guinea pigs were gonadectomized on the day of birth and serial blood samples collected at weekly intervals for gonadotropin assay until the animals were adult. It is possible that a pubertal rise in gonadotropin secretion takes place in the agonadal guinea pig, as in the agonadal child.