ANDROGEN SECRETION IN THE FOWL

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Abstract
The withdrawal of exogenous gonadotropic stimulation from the single-comb, light-brown Leghorn fowl resulted in regression of the comb, indicating decreased androgen production, and in the reappearance of foamy, lipoid-filled interstitial cells in the testes and in the medulla of the ovaries. Inhibition of secretion of endogenous gonadotropins by estrogen injns. produced similar results. That lack of androgen was not a causal factor for the appearance of these lipoidal cells was shown when injns. of androgen were followed by effects essentially the same as those observed following estrogen treatment. The results of these expts. provide ad-ditional evidence that the interstitial cells of the testis and similar cells in the medullary component of the ovary are responsible for androgen production in the single-comb, light -brown Leghorn fowl; and that interstitial cells filled with basophilic granules represent an active secretory phase, while those containing large osmic-staining, lipoidal droplets rep-resent an inactive phase.