Influence of Estrogens on Body Growth and Food Intake.

Abstract

Estradiol or its benzoate ester was given by subcutaneous injection in oil to immature male rats for several weeks. Both compounds produced depression in body weight gain and in food intake proportional to dose compared to controls eating ad libitum. Restriction of food intake by the controls to amounts eaten ad libitum by the treated animals (pair feeding) duplicated the effects of estrogen on body weight, since the growth curves of the two groups became parallel, but did not produce as profound depression of seminal vesicle and prostate weight at autopsy as estrogen. Since estrogen shows general effects on growth and appetite, it was suggested that the reported actions of estrogen on the endocrines and skeletal growth be reinvestigated in experiments using pair-fed controls.