COPPER-INDUCED PSEUDOPREGNANCY IN THE ADULT ESTROUS RAT

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Abstract
Intraven. adm. of Cu solns. induced pseudo-pregnancy in the adult estrous rat. The minimal effective dose is 0.1 cc. (03 mg. of Cu ion) of a 1% Cu acetate soln. Approx. 1 cc. of the same soln. was the minimal ovulating dose in the estrous rabbit. Pseudopregnancy was also induced in the adult estrous rat by intraven. inj. of rat pituitary extract. These data suggest that the Cu may act through the pituitary since the reports in the literature indicate that the intact pituitary is necessary to mediate the Cu induced pseudopregnancy in the rabbit. They also suggest that a fundamentally similar neuroendocrine physiology exists in both the spontaneously ovulating rat and the non-spontaneously ovulating rabbit.