Effect of cortisol administration in vivo on the activity of protein synthesis in ribosomal and polysomal preparations from rat liver was examined. Purified ribosomes obtained from adrenalectomized and cortisol-treated rats showed a higher activity of amino acid incorporation in the presence of poly U in vitro than those from adrenalectomized, untreated rats. Higher activity of poly U-directed amino acid incorporation in ribosomes from the hormone-treated animals was retained even after elimination of endogenous m-RNA by preincubation, and therefore, it was concluded that the activity of ribosomes was altered by cortisol-treatment.
Significant increase in heavy polysomes was observed 4 hr after administration of the hormone. Purified polysomes were fractionated on sucrose gradient, and the analysis of the fractions for amino acid incorporating activity revealed that light polysomes obtained from cortisol-treated rats were twice as active as those from control animals, while no significant difference was detected in the activity of heavy polysomal fractions.

抄録全体を表示

A tracer amount of 3 H-testosterone was administered into the umbilical vein at full term cesarean section and was allowed to circulate in the feto-placental compartments for 10 min before the baby was delivered. Cord blood and maternal and neonatal urine were analysed for radioactive metabolites. Besides unchanged testosterone, androstenedione, estrone, estradiol-17β and estriol were found in these samples. In urine, radioactive 17-KS was also detected. It was noteworthy that estrogens were detected in the circulating cord blood after such a short time. Among three classical estrogens, the ratio of estriol was the highest of all the samples analysed. This fact suggests that testosterone, if produced at all in the fetal testis, would undergo metabolic changes in the placenta and consequently it is not related to the concentration in the cord blood.

抄録全体を表示

A sensitive radioimmunoassay for bovine prolactin in plasma has been developed. The separation of free and antibody bound ¹³¹I labeled bovine prolactin was accomplished by the double antibody method. The method was so sensitive that unlabeled bovine prolactin as little as 0.063 mμg permitted detection of bovine prolactin in plasma as low as 2 mμg/m/ under conditions employed. Plasma from lactating cows and bovine pituitary extracts produce an identical dose response curve obtained by the purified bovine prolactin preparation. Caprine prolactin in plasma and pituitary extracts can be also measured using ovine prolactin as the standard hormone. Cross reactions of pituitary extracts from various non-ruminant species with bovine prolactin antiserum were not detectable. The binding of antibody to ¹³¹I labeled bovine prolactin was not inhibited by other pituitary hormones. Bovine prolactin added to plasma was recovered quantitatively. The half-life of injected bovine prolactin in the lactating cow was 29 min.

抄録全体を表示

Tritiated leucine was intraperitoneally injected into normal and castrated female rats, and the uptake in the brain was autoradiographically studied 2hr after the injection. Radioactivity was estimated by counting the number of reduced grains in various areas of the brain. In normal animals, the highest uptake of radioisotope was found in the cell bodies of neurons in the supraoptic nucleus. A less but still marked uptake was noted in the cell bodies of neurons in the paraventricular and accessory nuclei. The cell bodies of neurons in the medial habenular nuclei showed a relatively high uptake. The results suggest that the nuclear regions are active in protein synthesis. The cell bodies in the ventromedial and arcuate nuclei, the hippocampal formation and the cortex showed a relatively low uptake. In castrated animals, the uptake was enhanced in the cell bodies of neurons in the ventromedial and arcuate nuclei, whereas it was reduced in the supraoptic, paraventricular, accessory and medial habenular nuclei.

抄録全体を表示

Studies were made on the effects of prenatal administration of androgen on the development of sexual function in female rats. Pregnant rats at the middle or late stage of gestation were injected subcutaneously with testosterone propionate (T. P.) or methyltestosterone (M. T.) and their embryos at the late stage of intra-uterine life were given a single direct injection of T.P. In pregnant rats, an injection of 3 or 6mg M. T. or T. P., given for 6 successive days beginning on the 12th or the 15th day of gestation did not affect ovarian function of the offspring, although it was effective in causing masculinization of the genital tract. The female young became pregnant by artificial insemination.
An injection of 30 or 50mg of the hormones given to pregnant rats for 3 consecutive days between the 15th and the 17th day of gestation, and a single direct injection of 40μg of T. P. to fetuses on the 16th day of intra-uterine life gave rise not only to marked masculinization of the genital tract, but also to abnormal sexual function in female offspring. Many of these females exhibited constant cornification in vaginal smears and tended to display a persistent, opulatory response of low grade or failed to display any sexual reflex. The ovaries of these animals contained no normal nor freshly developing corpora lutea, but various types of follicles, some of which showed atresia.
These results suggest that the prenatal administration of androgen does not always alter the ovarian activity of the female rats, though it effectively induces masculinization of the genital tract. However, with large doses, it may induce phenomenon corresponding to androgen sterility in later life.

抄録全体を表示

Reported here, are the observations on the various histochemical enzyme activities in several organs (pancreas, adrenal glands, thyroid, liver, kidney, and cardiac, diaphragmatic and femoral muscles) and on the histological findings in Langerhans' islets of rats with experimental congenital diabetes (pre-diabetic and diabetic stages) and of offspring born from alloxan diabetic rats in successive generations.
The following results were obtained: a) Histologically, 1) there was a tendency towards hypoplasia of the β-cells (reduced in number and in size) in the Langerhans' islets, which aggravated in the offspring from generation to generation. 2) Degranulation, hydropic degeneration, or atrophy and pyknosis of the β-cells in the Langerhans' islets were noted in rats with spontaneous diabetes. 3) Signs of glycogen nephrosis could be seen in the renal tubules of rats with spontaneous diabetes. b) Histochemically, 1) ACPase activity in the Langerhans' islet cells in the pre-diabetic stage was definitely increased, but markedly decreased in rats with spontaneous diabetes. In the Langerhans' islet cells, G-6-PD activity was also markedly decreased in spontaneous diabetes. 2) ACPase, SD, LD and G-6-PD activities in the fascicular zone of the adrenal cortex were evidently increased in spontaneous diabetes and already somewhat increased in the prediabetic stage. Opposite findings were noted in rats with chronic alloxan diabetes. 3) ACPase and G-6-PD activities were increased in the follicular cells of the thyroid gland in spontaneous diabetes and even somewhat increased in the pre-diabetic stage. 4) ACPase and G-6-Pase activities in the hepatic lobules and SD activity in the renal tubules in spontaneous diabetes were definitely increased. 5) SD and LD activities in the muscular tissues showed a slight increase in the pre-diabetic stage and a marked increase in the diabetic stage.
These experimental results clearly reveal a change from the pre-diabetic stage to the stage of spontaneous diabetes in rats with congenital diabetes experimentally produced, and its study seems to contribute much to the study of human diabetes.

抄録全体を表示

A patient with typical features of Turner's syndrome was described. Chromosome studies revealed that the patient was a mosaic with an XO and an X ring celllines. The ring chromosome was assumed to be derived from an X-chromosome on the basis of the area ratio of the drumsticks to the nucleus.

抄録全体を表示

Lipolytic activities of eight stereoisomers of pentapeptide, histidyl-phenylalanylarginyl-tryptophyiglycine, corresponding to the positions 6-10 in the NH₂-terminal portion of ACTH were assayed in vitro. All the isomers were active in the experiment using rat epididymal fat. However, three isomers, all-D, L-His-L-Phe-L-Arg-D-Trp-Gly, and D-His-D-Phe-D-Arg-L-Trp-Gly, were inactive in rabbit perirenal fat at the dosage of 1 mg per fat pad. No definite correlation between the replacement of constituent L-amino acid residue (s) with corresponding D-amino acid residue (s) and the alteration of lipolytic activity was found. Lipolytic activity of all-L peptide was completely destroyed when heated with dilute alkali. All-D and D-His-L-Phe-L-Arg-L-Trp-Gly did not alter lipolysis elicited by ACTH in both rabbit and rat fats. These biological patterns of lipolytic activities of stereoisomeric pentapeptides were not parallel with their MSH activities, suggesting that peptide has different sites of activity and different stereospecificities in each activity. The tetrapeptide, His-Phe-Arg-Trp, was also proposed as a minimal structure for lipolytic activity in the partial structure of ACTH.

抄録全体を表示

Castration in male rats decreased the activities of testosterone and progesterone hydroxylations and reduced the magnitude of spectral change caused by testosterone and progesterone in liver microsomes, accompanying less marked decrease in microsomal P-450 content and NADPH-neotetrazolium reductase activities. The administration of testosterone or methyltestosterone to the castrated rats completely restored the hydroxylating activities and magnitude of the spectral change. The simultaneous injection of estradiol or diethylstilbestrol blocked the action of the androgens. These results suggest that androgen increases the binding capacity of P-450 with steroid hormones and makes an increase in the hydroxylating activities and that estrogen directly prevents the above action of androgen.

抄録全体を表示

For the purpose of studying the epidemiological situation of hyperthyroidism, the prevalence and incidence of the disease were studied in the study. During the four years from 1965 to 1968, the authors carried out a survey of hyperthyroidism combined with thyroid disease in unselected inhabitants in fifteen nongoitrous areas in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
All the inhabitants were examined for goiter. There were 73, 045 inhabitants in these areas and 59, 106 subjects (80.9 %) were examined. The total number of thyroid cases detected in the survey was 2, 098, i. e. 3.5 per cent of the examined had thyroid disease.
Forty-seven cases (12 males and 35 females) of them were diagnosed as hyperthyroidism. The following results were observed regarding hyperthyroidism: 1) prevalence rate of the disease was 0.8 (0.4 for males and 1.1 for females) per 1, 000 subjects examined, 2) prevalence rate of the disease by sex and area was the same in different areas in both sexes except Area C, 3) prevalence rate of the disease by sex and age-group was not the same in different age-groups in females, though the same in males, 4) about one-third of the patients with the disease was unaware of the presence of it, in spite of dominant clinical signs and symptoms.
Following the above mentioned survey, the incidence rate of hyperthyroidism, in one year and two years, was studied in four areas by studying the prevalence rate of thyroid diseases. Though the number of the cases examined in each programme was 6, 848 and 5, 222 respectively, only one case of hyperthyroidism was detected in each study. As a result, it was found to be impossible to determine the actual incidence rate of the disease per one year and per two years. In order to determine the incidence rate of the disease statistically, further examination of the inhabitants will be required.

抄録全体を表示