STUDIES OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE THYROTROPIC, EXOPHTHALMIC AND FAT-MOBILIZING PRINCIPLES OF PITUITARY EXTRACT

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Abstract
IN the preceding report (1) it has been found that the exophthalmos produced within forty-eight hours by the injection of pituitary extract into guinea pigs cannot be attributed to thyrotropic activity alone. It has also been found that this exophthalmos can hardly be attributed to pituitary-induced mobilization of fat per se (2), since proptosis developed in some animals which showed no increased fat deposition in their livers. Nevertheless, the exophthalmic and fat-mobilizing activity seemed closely related, disappearing approximately together with diminishing doses of pituitary extract and behaving similarly when the extract was iodinated. It therefore seemed advisable to investigate this relationship further, if possible. Fry (3) has reported that the fatty livers induced by administration of anterior pituitary extract to intact rats cannot be induced in adrenalectomized animals. More recently, Baker et al. (4) have noted that the administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to rats on a high carbohydrate diet has been followed by increased histologic fat in the livers. Consequently, it seemed reasonable to suspect that ACTH might be the principle in pituitary extract responsible for the mobilization of fat to the livers of guinea pigs.