ENDOCRINE INTERACTION OF THE THYMUS WITH THE HYPOPHYSIS, ADRENALS AND TESTES - EFFECTS OF 2 THYMIC EXTRACTS

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 1  (1-2) , 95-108
Abstract
The concentrations of ACTH, corticosterone [B], LH [lutropin] and testosterone [T] in the plasma of rats were measured in normal, thymectomized and sham-operated rats. A group of rats, thymectomized at birth, received 2 i.p. injections weekly of 2 thymic extracts, each prepared in a separate way. Neonatal thymectomy was followed by the appearance of a transitory wasting disease during which a hormonal unbalance was manifest. Plasma B and ACTH levels increased at first at 30 days after thymectomy and then decreased at 60 days. The levels of the different hormones returned to normal by 90 days. The injections of thymic extracts rectified all these perturbations. The plasma levels of T and B of hypophysectomized rats were compared to those of hypophysectomized and thymectomized animals. The thymus apparently has a direct action on the adrenal cortex and an indirect action on the testes. The indirect effect is probably mediated through the hypophysis.

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit: