SERUM INORGANIC PHOSPHORUS LEVELS IN EUNUCHISM AND IN FEEBLE-MINDED STATES*

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Abstract
Serum inorganic phosphorus (SEP) concentration was typically and significantly higher in a series of 58 eunuchs than in 50 intact males of comparable age, mental status and environment. Throughout the entire span of age under study, 18 to 79 years, values were higher in eunuchs than in the intact control series, indicating that the waning testicular secretions of middle-aged and old men are adequate to depress the level of SIP. Values for SIP concentration decreased with age in eunuchs. Therefore, in the absence of the restraint exerted by testicular secretions, SIP did not escape in old subjects to levels that were as high as in young adults. As tested in eunuchs 20 to 39 years of age, two decades in which mean levels of SIP were similar, values for SIP were not significantly related to duration of the castrate state (three to twenty-five years) or age at orchiectomy (12 to 29 years). SEP values were not correlated significantly with those for secondary sex characters or for other structures and functions known to be affected by orchiectomy. Elevation of SEP levels in eunuchs was not due to a decrease in adrenocortical functions insofar as these can be gauged by titers of urinary 17-hydroxycorticosteroids and 17-keto-steroids. Indirect evidence suggests that the supranormal levels of SEP in eunuchs were not due solely or usually to increased stimulation by growth hormone. SEP concentration tended to be subnormal in intact males who were feeble minded, but it could rise after castration levels in excess of those in intact men who were not feeble-minded.