CHAPTER IV 



THE GONADOTROPIC HORMONES ASSOCI- 

 ATED WITH PREGNANCY OR 

 CERTAIN NEOPLASMS' 



GONADOTROPIC hormones associated with preg- 

 ' nancy or with neoplasms are not secreted by the 

 pars glandularis of the pituitary body. In pregnant 

 women, as well as in other pregnant mammals in which their 

 presence has been demonstrated, the characteristic hormone 

 probably originates in the epithelial cells of the chorion. 

 Neoplasms, such as certain tumors of the testis, also may 

 secrete gonadotropic hormones; neoplasms originating in the 

 chorion almost invariably liberate large amounts of such sub- 

 stances into the blood stream. The effects of all these sub- 

 stances differ in one or more ways from those of gonado- 

 tropic hormones secreted by or extracted from the pars 

 glandularis. 



Most of the published reports deal with the gonadotropic 

 hormones of the pregnant woman and the pregnant mare. 

 Presumably, the important function of such hormones in 

 pregnancy is to insure the maintenance of an ovarian func- 

 tion favorable to the pregnancy. Inasmuch as the secretion 

 of the corpus luteum has been shown — especially in the earlier 

 part of pregnancy — to be vital for the continuance of preg- 

 nancy in many mammals, the luteinizing effects of the 

 chorionic hormones have been especially emphasized. In what 

 mammals, other than man and the horse, is there new evi- 

 dence for the secretion of chorionic hormone in pregnancy.^ 

 Heretofore there has been doubt as to the presence of gonado- 

 tropic hormone in the urine of the pregnant monkey. How- 



' See also chaps, i and iii or refer to the Index. 



[124I 



