SECRETION OF FSH AND LH IN THE PSEUDOPREGNANT RAT

Abstract
The pituitary LH- and FSH-content was estimated in rats made pseudopregnant by electrical stimulation of the cervix uteri; serum FSH was also estimated. An increase in both FSH- and LH-content was found, which was largest in the pituitary glands collected on the 7th day of pseudopregnancy. A similar increase in pituitary LH-content could be induced in normal adult female rats by a course of injections of 5 mg of progesterone daily. Serum FSH-levels did not show any clear-cut changes during pseudopregnancy, but rose at the end of it. In the discussion a connection is made between the similarity of the result of progesterone treatment and pseudopregnancy on one hand and between the ovulation-inhibiting effect of progesterone and its ability to increase pituitary FSH-and LH-levels on the other.