The patient is 29 years old Japanese female. She got married at 21. Her periods started at 13, but her menstruation had stopped at 17. She had complained of severe headache and right side hemianopsia in 1959 (age 22), and had been diagnosed as pituitary tumor, and the pituitary was removed subcapsularly at the Tokyo University Hospital. The tumor was constructed with polygonal chromophobe cells. After the first operation, her menstruation reappeared several times until her first pregnancy (age 23). Her puerperium had been well, but her lactation had failed to stop, and persisted with amenorrhea for about 5 years up to present time. Physical examination and the laboratory data showed slight obesity with hirustism and oily skin. The urinary excretion of GTH was less than normal. The urinary excretion of 17-KS and 17-OHCS and Estrogens was a little more than the patients with usual chromophobe adenoma. The thyroid and adrenal function remained within normal limits. Her pituitary adenoma grew again in 1965, and right side hemianopsia appeared with severe headache. Reoperation was performed, and the tumor showed the same histological characteristics as in the first operation. Forbes and Albright suggested that the patients with these syndrome might have overproduction of prolactin in the pituitary. The prolactin content of this tumor tissue was measured by the pigeon crop sac test, and showed remarkably higher value than that of the control pituitary tissues which was obtained from another patient with usual chromophobe adenoma.

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Hypothalamic tissues of female rats were extracted with 1.0M acetic acid. The acidic extract was lyophilized and subjected to gel filtration on Sephadex column and assayed for follicle-stimulating hormone-releasing factor (FSH-RF) activity and luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LH-RF) activity by estimating FSH and LH using the organ culture method of rat anterior pituitaries. FSH activity was measured by the method of Steelman-Pohley, and LH activity by the method of Parlow. Gel filtration on a short column of Sephadex G-25 in 0.1M pyridine acetate provided a single fraction which showed significant FSH-RF and LH-RF activity. Each activity showed a doserelated increase. Application of a long column of Sephadex G-25 in 0.05M pyridine acetate brought about separation of a peak for FSH-RF activity from that for LH-RF activity. The former activity was eluted from the column just before the appearance of the latter. These results indicated that the secretion of FSH and LH from the rat anterior pituitary was regulated by the specific hypothalamic FSH-RF and LH-RF, respectively.

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In the present experiments we investigated the effects of adrenalectomy and aldosterone, DOCA and hydrocortisone replacement on carbonic anhydrase activity in various organs of rats and mice. At the same time we reviewed all the experimental results hitherto obtained, and discussed the mechanism of action of aldosterone on the kidney. The characteristic feature of the action of aldosterone on renal carbonic anhydrase activity of normal or adrenalectomized mice and rats is that the effects in these two animal species are contrary to each other, being accelerative in the former species and inhibitory in the latter, whereas the effect of adrenalectomy on the renal enzymic activity is inhibitory in the former species and accelerative in the latter. This is an example of a difference in hormonal action between animal species. To explain the results the following hypothesis is offered: Presumably there is a species difference in the synthesis of renal carbonic anhydrase after aldosterone treatment. This difference may be dependent on the amount of other synthesized enzymes participating in Na metabolism, for example, ATP ase. That is, in mice the increase in carbonic anhydrase synthesis affected by aldosterone may cause the decrease in ATPase synthesis. The situation is reversed in rats.

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In this study the total number of nuclei of the adenohypophysial cells in rats was counted by using the integral serial sections. If each section is 5μ in thickness, the population is subject to be overestimated approximately three times of the true number of nuclei, because a section contains not only the entire nuclei but also some nuclear fragments. For this reason, a compensation is required to correct the measured number of nuclei. Initially, the method to calculate the mean radius of nuclei from the measured value of radii of nuclei including fragments was described, then the following formulae which correct the overestimation were ellicited:
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Where mi is the total number of nuclei including the alienated fragments which appear in the i-th section; 2r represents the average diameter of nuclei in the horizontal direction (μ) 2a does the thickness of sections (μ) M and A are the real number of nuclei in the adenophyophysis. On the occasion when there is no remarkable difference between 2a and r, and when the first and last sections contain no centers of nuclei, the first formula is applicable. When 2a is large enough to contain the centers of nuclei in the first and last section, the second formula is applicable. The number of nuclei of rat's pituitaries measured by the present method was compared with that by the other methods. This comparison suggested the validity of the present formulae.

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The enzymatic activity of side-chain cleavage of cholesterol and 20α-hydroxycholesterol in rat testes aged 3 week to 20 month old was determined. The activity of cholesterol side-chain cleavage was low in testes of the 3 week old rats. The activity then increased rapidly as animals matured and reached the highest level at 4 months. Thereafter, the activity remained constant throughout the experimental period. Changes in the activity of 20α-hydroxycholesterol side-chain cleavage exhibited nearly the identical pattern as that of cholesterol side-chain cleavage.
Cleavage of the cholesterol side-chain to yield pregnenolone seems to be an important step in the biosynthesis of androgens by testicular tissue, since it has been reported that gonadotrophic hormones regulate this step. The histological examination of the 20 month old testes revealed very little spermatogenesis in these tissues. Nevertheless the activity of cholesterol side-chain cleavage remained at the level of the 4 month old rats. These results suggest that the availability of pregnenolone for androgen biosynthesis is almost et al. constant between young matured rats and aged ones. Axelrod and Snipes have reported a decline in activities of C-17, 20-desmolase and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in testes of aged subjects. Thus, it may be possible that the regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis in testes of aged animals is controlled by mechanisms other than the side-chain cleavage of cholesterol.

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Rat-adrenal glands were shown to accumulate cholesterol-4-¹⁴C which was administered intraperitoneally. The administered cholesterol entered the adrenal gland in free form and then was transformed gradually to the ester form in the tissue. The results of the present experiments reveal that cholesterol either derived from plasma or biosynthesized in vitro from acetate within cells can serve as the precursor for corticosterone biosynthetsis in vitro. The present results also indicate that mitochondrial cholesterol in free form but not in ester form is utilized for corticosterone biosynthesis. This confirms previous works.

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A glycopeptide fraction was isolated from a digest by proteolytic enzyme of β-parotin by cellulose column chromatography using a mixture of n-propanol, ethanol, acetic acid and water as solvent.The glycopeptide fraction obtained in 8, 15 and 24hrs. digestion had no effect on the number of peripheral blood leukocytes in rabbits. Mixture of carbohydrate-free peptides was active. Therefore, it was suggested that the carbohydrate component was not concerned with the leukocyte activity of β-parotin. The glycopeptide contained approximately 35% of carbohydrates and its peptide moiety had seven amino acids. N-terminal amino acids of the peptide moiety were aspartic acid and glycine, and its C-terminal residue was aspartic acid.

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In fourteen cases of C₂₁-hydroxylation deficient cases, ratios of etiocholanolone to androsterone were lower than normal, and 11β-hydroxyandrosterone was predominant of 11-oxygenated-17-KS. A ratio of pregnanetriols to 17α-hydroxypregnanolone was more than unity in almost all cases. A ratio of 5β-pregnane-3α, 17α, 20α-triol to its 5α-isomer did not seem parallel to a ratio of etiocholanolone to androsterone in individual cases. A urinary output of THE was much higher than that of THF. Estrogens were excreted in higher amount and in decreased amount after oral administration of corticoid. A case of hypertensive form, with chief complaints of progressive virilization and hypertension showed a high urinary excretion of tetrahydro-11-deoxycortisol (41mg/day) and 11-deoxy-17-ketosteroids with small amounts of 11-oxy-17-ketosteroids. Allotetrahydro-11-deoxycortisol was detected and quantitatively determined (250μg/day).

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Ultrafine structure of the median eminence was examined with the electron microscope in adult female normal and castrated rats. In the internal layer of the median eminence there are many un-myelinated and a few myelinated nerve fibers. The un-myelinated nerve fibers contain in their axoplasma numerous granules and vesicles, the diameter of which varies from 40 to 340mμ. The diameter of vesicles with the largest population measures 60-80mμ. Electron dense granules show two peaks in their size distribution histogram, a major one at 100-140mμ and a minor one at 220-240mp. In the external layer, too, both in its middle portion and in its peripheral contact region, a number of nerve fibers containing granules and vesicles are found. Nerve fibers in this layer are exclusively un-myelinated. The granules and vesicles found in this layer are much more in number and distributed in a narrower size range than those in the internal layer. The largest population have the dense granules and the vesicles the diameter of which measure 120mμ-160mμ and 80-120mμ respectively. Small vesicles resembling synaptic vesicles are also abundantly found. Two weeks after castration, small vesicles in the internal layer are slightly decreased in number, while in the external layer small dense granules (less than 120mμ in diameter) and small vesicles (60, -120mμ) are markedly increased. The number of larger dense granules remained almost unchanged both in the internal and in the external layer. Furthermore, the fine structure of the cells of arcuate nucleus was studied in normal rats. Besides well developed endoplasmic reticula and Golgi apparatus, small electron dense granules measuring about 100mμ in diameter are not infrequently found in the cytoplasm, in particular, in the vicinity of the Golgi apparatus. Possible significance of the findings observed was discussed.

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The interval between the onsets of the ORS complex and of the brachial Korotkoff sounds at the diastolic pressure in 23 cases of hyperthyroidism was distinctly shorter, 0.15±0.002 sec (SE), than the interval of 0.21±0.004 sec obtained in euthyroid subjects. Measurement of this interval offers a simple, safe, rapidly obtained index of thyroid function.

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Effects of hypophysectomy and/or urophysectomy on the water transport in isolated intestines and on the sodium transport in isolated gills of sea-water adapted eels were examined. When isolated intestine was incubated in Ringer's solution, the net water flux across the intestinal wall of the eels, adapted to sea water, was greater than that of fresh-water eels. This increase in water flux in the intestines of sea-water eels was not observed when the hypophysis or the hypophysis and urophysis were removed together, but urophysectomy alone produced no significant change in the water flux. It is likely, therefore, that the hypophysis is involved in the observed increase in water flux. On the other hand, when isolated gills of the sea-water eels were incubated in sea water, the rate of penetration of sodium from surrounding sea water was smaller than that of the gills of freshwater eels. Hypophysectomy and/or urophysectomy had little effect on this adaptation process of the isolated gills.

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