INFLUENCE OF OESTROGENS ON THYROID FUNCTION. I.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Estrogens, in daily doses of 10-1000 [mu]g oestradiol benzoate for a week, in castrated male albino rats caused an increase in the 24-hour uptake of NaI131 and of the thyroid weight as compared with paired fed, oil-treated controls. However, there was no distinct relationship between dosage and effect. In hypophysectomized castrated male rats, estrogen caused an increase of the effect of simultaneously injected thyrotropin (TSH). A qualitatively similar effect was produced by the administration of 10 IU serum gonadotropins to TSH-treated hypophysectomized female rats. In hypophysectomized animals, estrogens have no thytropic effect. On the basis of these data, it was probable that estrogens influenced the thyroid gland in 2 ways, by decreasing TSH release by the hypophysis, and by intensifying the action of TSH on the thyroid gland.