THE RELATION OF DIET TO THE RESTITUTION OF THE GONADOTROPIC HORMONE CONTENT OF THE DISCHARGED RABBIT PITUITARY

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Abstract
The rate of restitution of the gonadotrophic hormone was studied by assaying the glands removed on the 8th day of pseudopregnancy from animals in which the pituitary had been discharged by sterile copulation. The restitution of hormonal content was not influenced by protein starvation at least as severe as that which produces dietary anestrus in the rat. Even on a protein-free diet the excess of hormone stored during the first 8 days of pseudopregnancy, over and above the amt. released to the peripheral tissues, was fully equal to the excess stored by control animals on a 16% protein diet in the same period of time. Apparently, the protein requirements for the formation of the gonadotrophic hormone can be fully met by the nitrogenous products derived from the rabbit''s own tissues, even during the stress of serious N deficit.