[Determination of the gonadotropin activity of biological preparations by testosterone synthesis in mouse testes in vitro].

The ability of mouse testicular tissue to respond to stimulation by a commercial preparation of human choriongonadotropin (Praedyn Spofa) was tested in vitro, using whole testes, fragments and cell suspension. In each experiment seven gonadotropin concentrations ranging from 0.06 to 50 i. u. per litre were tested, and the results were compared with the group of control samples without gonadotropin. The incubation of whole testes with gonadotropin of different concentrations was performed in five vessels, each containing one testis; the fragments were incubated in four vessels, each containing four fragments from different testes, and the cell suspension in triplicates containing 1 . 10(6) cells per ml. All three types of tissue reacted to the increasing concentrations of stimulating agent by the increasing production of testosterone, the concentration of which was determined by radioimmunoassay. For the suppression of the individuality and for achieving a uniform response of the individual samples with each stimulation, the cell suspension of testes from several animals appears to be most suitable.