Eguchi Y, Sakamoto Y, Arishima K, Morikawa Y, Hashimoto Y
Endocrinology. 1975 Feb;96(2):504-7. doi: 10.1210/endo-96-2-504.
On the 20th day of gestation in pregnant rats, the male fetuses were subjected to surgical hypophysectomy by decapitation or to intracranial paraffin injection which compressed the fetal brain. Autopsy was done on the 22nd day of gestation. The collective volume of Leydig cells in the left fetal testis was estimated by Chalkley's method. Decapitation of a fetus caused a significant retardation in increase of the collective volume of Leydig cells 2 days later. In fetuses given an intracranial paraffin injection, the Leydig cell volume was increased significantly compared with normal fetuses on the 20th day of gestation but was far smaller than that in their intact littermates. This effect of paraffin compression was completely prevented by injections of LRH. The Leydig cell volume remained extremely small in decapitated fetuses given LRH. The observations suggest that in the male rat the hypothalamus begins to govern a pituitary gonadotropic function before birth.
在孕鼠妊娠第20天，对雄性胎儿进行断头手术切除垂体或进行颅内石蜡注射以压迫胎儿大脑。在妊娠第22天进行尸检。用查克利氏方法估算左侧胎儿睾丸中莱迪希细胞的总体积。胎儿断头2天后，莱迪希细胞总体积的增加显著迟缓。在接受颅内石蜡注射的胎儿中，与妊娠第20天的正常胎儿相比，莱迪希细胞体积显著增加，但远小于其完整同窝仔鼠。注射促性腺激素释放激素（LRH）可完全防止石蜡压迫的这种作用。给予LRH的断头胎儿中，莱迪希细胞体积仍然极小。这些观察结果表明，在雄性大鼠中，下丘脑在出生前就开始调控垂体促性腺功能。
