STUDIES IN SPERM HORMONES: DEMONSTRATION OF ESTROGENIC ACTIVITY

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Abstract
Estrogenic activity was demonstrated in extracts prepared from bull sperm, which caused vaginal cornification and increase in uterine wt. in the spayed, adult albino rat. The possible presence in these extracts of an augmenter or synergist of estrogenic action, similar to that described by Cohen and Bates (1952) for mare''s urine, is suggested by the increased activity demonstrated by crude phenolic fractions as compared to that of purified phenolic material. No adrogenic activity was demonstrated in the neutral fraction of extracts fractionated into alpha- and beta-ketones and non-ketones, as judged by the lack of increase in the prostatic alkaline phosphatase of the immature, castrate male rat. The presence of estrogens in sperm, which may be considered a part of the testicular tubular epithelium, may explain some hitherto obscure phenomena in the control of the anterior pituitary by the testes.