THE INFLUENCE OF TESTIS HORMONE UPON THE OESTROUS CYCLE IN THE RAT

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Abstract
Daily injections of testis hormone into spayed c rats did not stimulate the cornified vaginal smear of oestrus or have any demonstrable effect. Injection of mixtures of testis hormone and oestrin into spayed [female][female] was accompanied by the cornified cell smear as long as injections were continued. When injections were stopped the leukocyte (or dioestrous) smear appeared and was permanent. Testis hormone injected daily into normal [female][female] suppressed the oestrous cycle for the period of the injection. When injections were no longer given the normal cycle expressed by the vaginal smear reappeared. While the cycles were suppressed by testis hormone the oestrous smear could be induced by injection of hypophysis secretion. From this, together with preceding work, the authors conclude: (1) Sex hormones, whether produced by intact gonads or introduced by injection, stimulate the homologous sex characters in the organism but do not influence heterol-ogous characters; (2) sex hormones do not have a direct influence upon either the homologous or heterol ogous gonad; (3) the sex stimulating secretion of the hypophysis controls the 2 functions of the gonad [long dash]the gametogenetic and endocrine functions; without the presence of this secretion both gonad functions are in abeyance; (4) gonad hormones of either sex act to depress the hypophysis and result in a lessened amount of hypophysis sex stimulating secretion available to the organism.