470 



PHYSIOLOGY OF GONADS 







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Fi(. 7 11 ()\,ii\ liMiii jir. ^uaiii i.ililni l.amc luu uiiz. d < . IK m liiu. ih.niiiii ( uipu- liiii iim. 

 Hvi)f'itioi)lue(l intPi-titium. Pninoidial t'olhcles in cortex. (Couitc^y of Di. J. T. Bra(U)iuy.) 



Parkes (1927), Genther (1931), Schmidt 

 (1936), Mandl and Zuckerman (1956a, b), 

 and others. This conclusion w^ould seem to be 

 .strengthened by the recent report that there 

 is no intensification of the secretion of gon- 

 adotrophins by x-rayed rats in which there 

 was an apparent destruction of the ova and 

 folhcles (AVestman, 1958). Evidence of an 

 entirely different sort for the secretion of es- 

 trogen by interstitial tissue has been i)re- 

 sented by Ingram (1957). Autografts of 

 medullary tissue containing interstitial tis- 

 sue but no follicles were made in rabbits. 

 Five animals from which this tissue was re- 

 covered had uteri which were not as atroi)hic 

 as the uteri of spayed animals. He noted, 

 however, that in the absence of the follicu- 

 lar apparatus the capacity to secrete estro- 

 gen is soon lost. As we have seen,- Ingram is 

 one of several investigators who have re- 

 lated the functioning of interstitial tissue to 

 granulosa elements. 



Histochemical staining procedures for 

 cholesterol indicated to Dempsey (1948) 

 that the theca interna is a possible source of 

 estrogen. The results obtained during a more 

 extensive utilization of histochemical reac- 

 tions in studies of the ovaries of nonpreg- 

 nant, psoudopregnant, and pregnant rabbits, 

 and in the ovaries of rats and guinea pigs 

 were consistent with the conclusion that a 

 li])i(l i)recursor of estrogenic substances is 

 ]:)resent in interstitial tissue (Claesson, 1954; 

 Claesson and Hillarji, 1947a, b; Claesson, 

 Diczfalusy, Hillarp and Hclgberg, 1948). 



Rennels (19511, on the basis of histo- 

 chemical reactions in the oxaries of innna- 

 ture rats, advanced the liypotliesis that in- 

 terstitial tissue has a dual origin. There is 

 a primary type present between 10 and 18 

 (lays aftei- bii'th wliicli is dosc^ly associated 

 with gi'anulosa ()Ut<j;i()wtlis and ingrowing 

 cords of cells from the germinal epithelium. 

 A secondary type is formed later from the 



