Harry Lipner

Hypothesis Concerning the Role of Follicular Contractions in Ovulation

Autotransplants of ovarian tissue in the anterior chamber of the eye may be studied in the lightly anesthetized rabbit. Individual follicles in such implants, consisting of two to five follicles, have been observed to contract after subcutaneous injection of urine of pregnant women. after application of rat pituitary homogenate to the cornea, and 9 to 10 hours after cervical stimulation.

Inhibition of ovulation by inhibition of steroidogenesis in immature rats.

Summary Immature female rats treated with PMS on day 24 and HCG on day 26 ovulate and have ova in the oviduct on day 27. Treatment with ethamoxytriphetol (Mer-25) prior to the administration of HCG has no effect on ovulation but treatment with the 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibitor 2α - cyano − 4,4,17α - trimethylandrost − 5 − en −17β-ol-3-one (cyanoketone), also given before HCG, effectively inhibits ovulation. Adrenalectomy performed prior to administration of HCG does not prevent ovulation while neither progesterone (500 μg) nor progesterone: estrogen, 500 μg:1 μg overcome the cyanoketone block to ovulation. Ovarian steroidogenesis and ovulation are apparently related.

Acceleration of thyroxine-induced metamorphosis by prolactin antiserum.

The role of extrathyroidal hormones in amphibian growth and metamorphosis is as yet unclear. The involvement of prolactin in these processes has been suggested. In the present study a possible competition between thyroxine and prolactin in metamorphosis was analyzed by administration to tadpoles of a highly purified rabbit prolactin antiserum. The antiserum exhibited no cross-reactivity with ovine or bovine tissue, mammalian plasma proteins, or other mammalian pituitary hormones, as determined by the Ouchterlony double-diffusion precipitin test. Hind limb growth, tail resorption, and transformation of body form were the criteria employed in the analysis of induced metamorphosis. Control tadpoles treated with normal rabbit serum (NRS) or with prolactin antiserum (PR ) remained unchanged throughout the experiments. T4 injected into tadpoles 1 day after the prolactin antiserum accelerated metamorphosis as compared to T4 alone. We conclude that there is normally present in tadpoles a prolactin-like hormone which exerts an inhibitory effect on the peripheral action of T4.

Responses to intensive training and methandrostenelone administration. I. Contractile and performance variables.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of methandrostenelone (Dianabol) on contractile and performance variables in the rat. Thirty-six male Sprague Dawley rats 90 days old were divided into sedentary and exercise groups; they were further subdivided into Dianabol (0.35 mg/kg/day) treated and untreated groups. The exercise groups underwent a program of high intensity training 7 days/week for 6 weeks. Training produced changes in isometric force-time characteristics indicating increased production of tension. Performance test scores increased significantly from 3 weeks to 6 weeks. Performance by exercise and exercise with Dianabol groups was indistinguishable. It is concluded that Dianabol did not significantly alter the adaptations of the rat to high intensity training.

Ovulation from Histamine Depleted Ovaries

Summary Administration of compound 48-80 to PMS-HCG-treated immature rats causes an inhibition of the ovarian weight increase due to the stimulation exerted by HCG. Benadryl causes a slight reduction in this ovarian response but combination with 48/80 results in a profound inhibition. The combined treatment reduced the number of ova shed, but all the rats ovulated. The ovarian histamine content decreased but the blood concentrations rose after treatment with HCG. Histamine apparently plays a major role in the acute increase in ovarian weight but not in ovulation.

Isolation and preliminary characterization of inhibin-f.

Although a gonadal regulation of hypophysial gonadotrophin secretion is established, the nature of this feedback is not fully known. In certain pathological conditions (1) or after selective destruction of the germinal epithelium (2), FSH levels are elevated whereas LH levels are not. These observations suggest that the secretion of FSH is under the control of a factor other than that controlling LH secretion (2). Recent evidence in the female (3) also supports the concept of the dissociation of secretion of FSH and LH.

Responses to intensive training and methandrostenelone administration: II. Hormonal, organ weights, muscle weights and body composition.

The hormonal levels of the gonadotropins, the weight of selected organs and of the triceps surae as well as body composition were determined in Sprague Dawley rats at 3 and 6 weeks after intensive training with or without a methandrostenelone (Dianabol) supplement (0.35 mg/kg/day). The controls were sedentary rats of similar age and weight at the start of the experiment. The dianabol treated rats in the sedentary and exercise groups had a depression of plasma LH levels. There were no differences in body weight, specific gravity, lean body weight, fat or % fat between the two trained groups. Dianabol had no apparent effect on the measured parameters other than a depression of LH.

Amphibian metamorphosis: The role of thyrotropin-like hormone

Abstract The role of the pituitary hormones in tadpole growth and differentiation is still incompletely understood. Well-characterized antisera to specific mammalian hormones create essentially single hormone deficits and allow analysis of the role of the missing hormone in specified processes. The effect of thyrotropin antiserum administered to prometamorphic Rana catesbeiana tadpoles during thyroxine (T4)-induced or spontaneous metamorphosis has been studied. Compared to control animals treated with normal rabbit serum, thyrotropin antiserum depressed the rate of hind limb growth during T4-induced metamorphosis to about 50% of the response to T4 alone and completely blocked hind limb growth during spontaneous metamorphosis. These observations support the conclusions that (1) a thyrotropin-like hormone is secreted to continue the effect initiated by T4 during induced metamorphosis and to initiate spontaneous metamorphosis; (2) the circulating tadpole hormones can cross-react with antisera prepared against bovine thyrotropin; and (3) the amphibian larval anterior pituitary hormones have immunologic properties common to the mammalian hormones.

Fluorescence monitoring of unstained protein bands in acrylamide gel

Abstract A general method for detecting and quantitation of unstained protein bands in an electrophoretic supporting gel is described. The fluorescence emission of the aromatic amino acids is monitored with the aid of a simple mechanism for advancing the tube of gel past the slit of a fluorometer. This procedure is presently being utilized for the routine surveying of protein separations. It should also lend itself to the automatic clinical analysis of serum proteins.

Partial Purification of Porcine Follicular Fluid Gonadostatin

Inhibin, a hormone first suggested by McCullagh (1932), has only come under intensive study in the last decade. The generalization of this testicular factor to that of a gonadal factor by de Jong and Sharpe (1976) extended its significance and increased the need to learn more about it. Inhibin (McCullagh, 1932) has been named inhibin-m or inhibin-f (Williams et al., 1978), folliculo-statin (Schwartz and Charming, 1977) and gonadostatin (Ying et al., 1981). We prefer and suggest the general adoption of the name gonadostatin (GnS) because it is independent of sex, it implies target (gonadotrophic cell) as well as origin (the gonads). The most pressing need in gonadostatin research is to isolate and characterize this molecule and develop assay procedures which will allow direct study of this putative hormone. At present much that we have learned of its physiology is indirect and derives from its one clearly defined effect, depression of plasma FSH. Initially bio-assays used whole animals such as immature castrate males (Nandini et al., 1976) and metestrous ovariectomized female rats (Marder et al., 1977).