THE PITUITARY BODY 



(1929), who first produced ovulation by injecting pregnancy- 

 urine intravenously, later concluded that the dose required 

 was equivalent to about i "rat-unit" per kilogram body- 

 weight — a belief shared by others.'-' 



If prolan is given by repeated doses subcutaneously or 

 intraperitoneally, ovulation frequently does not occur. In 

 the ovaries of very young rabbits necrosis not only of primor- 

 dial follicles but also of the membrana granulosa and the ova 

 of hemorrhagic foUicles has been observed. In older animals 

 there may occur only a ripening of some follicles. More often, 

 particularly in adults, there are produced hemorrhages into 

 follicles which may or may not be enlarged, depending upon 

 the rabbit's age. Luteinization, particularly of the theca, oc- 

 curs and is associated with the phenomena of pseudopreg- 

 nancy.''' 



The intravenous dose required to produce ovulation may 

 be less than one-tenth of the subcutaneous or intraperitoneal 

 dose provoking an ovarian response (Snyder and Wislocki, 

 1931). These authors concluded that only in animals more 

 than 3 months old were ovarian changes such as hemorrhage 

 into foUicles readily produced by intravenous injection. Typ- 

 ical ovulation was produced in rabbits more than 7 months 

 old. Ovulation cannot be produced earlier than 10 hours 

 after injection, even with increased doses (Jares, 1932). Fol- 

 lowing ovulation, typical corpora lutea develop and the rab- 

 bit becomes pseudopregnant (Hill and Parkes, 1930). If re- 

 peated doses of prolan, individually too small to cause ovula- 

 tion, be given intravenously, there may follow follicular en- 

 largement, occasional hemorrhages into follicles, some lutei- 

 nization but no ovulation (Wolfe and Ellison, Friedman, 

 1932). Friedman (1932) produced corpora lutea by injecting 

 pregnancy-urine directly into follicles; such corpora lutea, 



'^ Such a relationship is not true of anterior pituitary extracts. 



''' Reiss and Langendorf, Watrin, Watrin and Brabant, Zondek (1929), Fried- 

 man, Mahnert (1930); Wolfe and Ellison (1932). 



[192] 



