THE ANTAGONISTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TESTOSTERONE AND THYROXINE IN MAINTAINING THE EPIDERMIS OF THE MALE RAT

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Abstract
IN PREVIOUS work on the testis and thyroid hormones, attention has been focussed mainly on the androgenic function of testosterone and the metabolic function of thyroxine. Recently, it was found that physiological amounts of testosterone and thyroxine were essential for the maintenance of the normal weight and histological picture of such organs as heart, kidney, hypophysis and submaxillary glands in the male rat (Grad and Leblond, 1949). Thus, in the absence of testis and thyroid gland, there was an atrophy of the serous tubules of the submaxillary gland, while daily injection of replacement amounts of testosterone and thyroxine restored normal size and granular content of these tubules. In this case, the normalcy was achieved through a synergistic action of the two hormones. In the case of the hypophysis, a normal picture was obtained by an additive action of the two hormones.