GONADAL INFLUENCES ON SURVIVAL AFTER ADRENAL-ECTOMY IN THE GOLDEN HAMSTER

Abstract

The post-operative survival time of 78 adrenalectomized male hamsters averaged 6.7 days, that 52 females 10.2 days. Both lost about one quarter of their body wt. Ovariectomy equalized the survival times of the sexes. Extension of metestrus followed adrenalectomy in 34.6% of females under 14 weeks of age, and in 62.5% of older animals, and survival times averaged longer in these (10.8 and 13.4 days) than in females with normal cycles (7.6 and 9.1 days). Exogenous DCA, DCG, or progesterone maintained life and body wt. in adrenalectomized hamsters, the necessary amount of progesterone being half that of DCA or DCG. It is concluded that ovarian progesterone prolongs the life of adrenalectomized female hamsters, and that the differences with age or with alteration of estrus cycles result from different numbers of active corpora lutes. It is proposed that sexual dimorphism, and age and species differences in adrenal morphology and physiology depend upon differences in the hormonal balance within the pituitary-adrenal-ovarian-tissue-cell axis acting upon tissues varying in their sensitivity to hormonal stimulation.