CONTINUED SUPPRESSION OF PITUITARY LUTEOTROPHIC ACTIVITY AND FERTILITY IN THE FEMALE MOUSE

Abstract

Repeated suppression of luteotrophic activity by olfactory stimulation from males other than the stud male, was without effect on the subsequent fertility of female mice at least up to 5 months, the longest period recorded. Females in which such suppression had occurred, however, showed a tendency towards spontaneous pseudopregnancies following the block, in place of the normal 4-day estrous cycle. This suggests that such olfactory stimulation may affect the release of luteotrophin rather than its production. The reaction of the recently-mated female to each period of exposure to alien males was apparently not affected by her reaction to the same situation on previous occasions.