CHAPTER III 



THE GONADOTROPIC HORMONES OF THE 

 PITUITARY BODY 



IF THE number of articles published were acceptable as 

 a safe basis of judgment, it could easily be concluded 

 that the gonadotropic hormones are the most important 

 secreted by the anterior pituitary. This field of inquiry is 

 attractive not only because of its inherent importance but 

 also because the probability of securing fruitful results is 

 great. There can be no doubt that the anterior pituitary 

 secretes gonadotropic hormone(s) essential for the normal 

 functioning of the gonads of mammals and other vertebrates. 

 As a result, nearly every investigator interested in the physi- 

 ology of the gonads has quickly entered or wandered into 

 the rich and diversified field of pituitary-gonad interrelation- 

 ships — sometimes without reaHzing he is there. Furthermore, 

 work may be greatly facilitated by the fact that the assay 

 of the hormones with a fair degree of accuracy is often, but 

 not always, easily accomplished. 



Despite all the labor represented by a vast number of re- 

 ports during the past few years, it is not yet possible to 

 enumerate satisfactorily the gonadotropic hormones of the 

 pituitary. Separate follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hor- 

 mones are generally believed to exist; it is by no means cer- 

 tain that the former specifically maintains the mammalian 

 seminiferous tubules, whereas the latter insures the normal 

 secretion of testicular hormone by the interstitial cells. It 

 has been reported that principles synergizing with or an- 

 tagonizing gonadotropic hormone have been extracted from 

 the pituitary; however, their physiological importance is 

 largely postulated from deduction. Several authors have rec- 

 ognized the great importance of excluding the animal's own 



[47] 



