THE PITUITARY BODY 



also, the administration of prolan will maintain the corpora 

 lutea of pseudopregnancy for more than a week. These ef- 

 fects of prolan apparently are due to its luteinizing proper- 

 ties; it replaces the pituitary luteinizing hormone which 

 normally is so important for corpus luteum function and the 

 maintenance of pregnancy. On the other hand, von Arvay 

 (1937), who was able to prevent normal parturition and 

 cause the prolonged retention of the dead fetuses by injecting 

 prolan into pregnant rabbits, contended that these changes 

 were not due to the persistent action of corpus luteum secre- 

 tion.''* 



Reynolds' observations on the inhibitory action of prolan 

 on the motility of the uterus of the unanesthetized rabbit 

 were confirmed by Sager and Leonard (1936), who observed 

 a similar effect following the injection of extract of urine of 

 patients with testicular tumor or of others following gonadec- 

 tomy or the menopause. The inhibitory effect could be pre- 

 vented by the injection of oestrin." 



There are other miscellaneous observations which are diffi- 

 cult to classify. Vercesi and Guercio (1935) stated that the 

 growth in vitro of ovarian fragments from rabbits is poor 

 even in the presence of prolan; however, the administration 

 of prolan for several days before ovarian removal greatly 

 facilitates the growth of fibroblasts, which the authors con- 

 sidered is an important part of the response in vivo. Accord- 

 ing to Kiyohara and Isawa (1936), the oxygen-consumption 

 of the isolated ovary of the guinea pig (300 gm.) is nearly 

 doubled 10-15 hours after the injection of 7-8 cc. of urine of 

 pregnancy. Some effect could be observed 2-3 hours after 

 injection or as long as 10 days later. There were no similar 

 changes in the metabolism of liver and kidney. 



Hamblen in association with Ross (1937) reviewed the 



'" See also Spreng (1937) who investigated the action of a single intravenous dose 

 of prolan on the duration of pseudopregnancy in the rat and the rabbit. 



" Pierson (1936) produced cancer-like adenomata of the uterus in 2 of 16 rabbits 

 by injecting a concentrated extract of pregnancy-urine on alternate days. However, 

 it is not certain that her extract was free of oestrin. 



[ 132] 



