Pituitary Content of Somatotropin, Gonadotropin, and Thyrotropin in Rats with Stunted Linear Growth following Head X-Irradiation

Abstract

The injection of homogenates of the pituitaries of rats stunted by 600 R of X-irradiation administered to the head and of non-irradiated controls into hypophysectomized immature female rats resulted in comparable responses in terms of tibial eplphyseal width, gonadal weight, and thyroidal 131I uptake. An exception occurred in 121-day-old females in which the pituitary homogenate of the stunted animals produced about twice the gonadal weight in the assay animals as did those of controls. These findings combined with those of earlier experiments, suggest that the permanent stunting resulting from head X-irradiation is not the result of hormonal deficit.