THE PITUITARY BODY 



complished in castrated male rats by injecting androsterone 

 (Hohlweg, 1937) and in spayed females by injecting andros- 

 terone as well as dehydroandrosterone, androstanedione, or 

 testosterone (Nelson and Merckel, 1937). All the authors in- 

 jected large doses of the androgens used. Schoeller, Dohrn, 

 and Hohlweg (1936) compared the doses of oestradiol ben- 

 zoate, androsterone, testosterone, and testosterone propio- 

 nate needed to correct gonadectomy changes in the pituitary 

 of immature or young adult castrated or spayed rats. Oestra- 

 diol benzoate (total dose 0.15-0.37) was 200-500 times as 

 potent as the androgens in immature animals, whereas in 

 young adult gonadectomized animals of both sexes its poten- 

 cy was 500-13,000 times greater. In the older animals at 

 least, testosterone propionate (total dose 1507) was found to 

 be the most potent of the androgens, its activity being twice 

 that of testosterone and 10-13 times that of androsterone. 

 Frank and Salmon (1936) found that androgens affected 

 symptoms due to castration only slightly and did not influ- 

 ence the excretion of gonadotropic hormone. Their experi- 

 ments were performed in two castrated men who received 

 total doses of androgens such as 20 mg. of androsterone, 25 

 mg. of dihydroandrosterone benzoate, or 115 mg, of testos- 

 terone. Apparently androgens are much less potent than 

 oestrogens in correcting pituitary castration changes, whether 

 reference is made to altered morphology or to the storage or 

 rate of secretion of gonadotropic hormones. Salmon's report 

 (1937) also supports this behef. The injection of 815 mg. of 

 testosterone propionate over a period of about 4 weeks into a 

 spayed woman produced effects — i.e., amelioration of meno- 

 pausal symptoms, disappearance of gonadotropic hormone in 

 urine — corresponding to those of approximately 4 mg. of 

 oestradiol benzoate. 



Androgens may cause oestrus, prolonged or only length- 

 ened periodically, in animals with intact ovaries (Nelson and 

 Merckel, 1937). Hypophysectomy seemed to increase this 

 effect of dehydroandrosterone. Hohlweg (1937) believed that 



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