THE PITUITARY BODY 



According to Hill and Gardner (1936), successful homo- 

 transplantation of the pituitary into the testis can be made 

 in mice which are homogeneous genetically. They showed 

 that mice carrying such grafts could be hypophysectomized, 

 yet spermatogenesis, normal testicular germinal epithehum, 

 and normal adrenal cortex (at least the zona fasciculata) 

 were all maintained. If both the pituitary and ovary were 

 transplanted, ovarian secretion was elaborated and even 

 caused development of the branched ducts of the mammary 

 gland. Like Hill and Gardner, Greep (1936) found that the 

 sex of the donor of a pituitary transplant had little or no 

 significance. For example, the male reproductive organs were 

 as well maintained by a female pituitary as by a male gland. 

 Greep hypophysectomized male and female rats 4 weeks old. 

 He inserted the graft into the empty sella immediately after 

 operation and was able to secure quite complete replace- 

 ment effects in three-fourths of the animals. Oestrous cycles 

 in the females were usually a little prolonged (5-7 days) be- 

 cause of a longer dioestrus. However, 13 of the rats became 

 pregnant, delivered normally, and nursed their young. Still 

 another form of replacement-therapy in the hypophysecto- 

 mized rat was studied by May (1937), who transplanted the 

 pituitary of the new-born rat into the anterior chamber of 

 the eye. Oestrus was first observed 77 days later; there was 

 some increase in weight over a long period (56-1 19 -gm. in 

 248 days). Oestrus might disappear after removal of the eye 

 containing the transplant, with associated atrophy of the 

 ovary and uterus. Schweizer, Charipper, and Haterius (1937) 

 made ocular transplants (anterior chamber or lateral sub- 

 conjunctival tissue) of the pituitary in hypophysectomized 

 guinea pigs. After about two months the graft clearly seemed 

 to secrete only one gonadotropic hormone — that stimulating 

 the follicle. This was shown not only by the abnormal de- 

 velopment of ovarian follicles and continuous oestrus in the 

 host but also by the effect of implantation of the graft which 

 seemed to produce only follicle-stimulation. 



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