CHAPTER V 



THE GONADOTROPIC SUBSTANCES OCCURRING 

 IN URINE, BLOOD, AND TISSUES, PARTICU- 

 LARLY DURING PREGNANCY 



THAT the urine of pregnant women contains "an- 

 terior pituitary hormone" was first reported by Asch- 

 heim and Zondek in 1927. Apparently Polano made 

 a similar observation in 1923 without realizing its signifi- 

 cance. Since 1927 there has accumulated an enormous num- 

 ber of reports on the gonadotropic properties of urine, body- 

 fluids, and tissues. Gonadotropic substances which are not 

 directly obtained from the anterior pituitary will be discussed 

 in this chapter although it is realized that at least some may 

 originate in the gland. The important sources of these gonad- 

 otropic substances are briefly summarized in Table VI. For 

 detailed discussion they will be classified as follows: I, prolan 

 (groups I, 2, 3, 4, and 5); II, gonadotropic hormones in cases 

 of malignant tumors of the genitalia (groups 6, 7, 8, and 9); 

 III, gonadotropic hormones in cases of diminished gonadal 

 secretion or absence of the gonads (group 10); and IV, 

 gonadotropic hormones in the pregnant horse (group 11). 



I. PROLAN' 



The distribution of prolan. — The discovery of prolan has 

 raised many questions of great scientific interest, among the 

 more important of which is the question of its origin. Its 

 raison d'etre^ like that of the associated oestrin, has not been 

 plausibly explained. From a practical standpoint, however, 

 its discovery has been important in off"ering a reliable method 

 for the early diagnosis of pregnancy. For some months, at 



^ Although the term "prolan" is also used to identify a commercial extract (made 

 from pregnancy-urine) it is employed here because of its general use (by Zondek and 

 others), its brevity, and its vagueness as to the site of formation of the substance. 



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