When in the course of previous investigations we began recording the weight of the organs of rats, we found, unexpectedly, that not only the weights of the endocrines but those of other important organs (liver, kidneys, and heart) are also influenced by sex hormones. The object of this paper is to explain the nature of the changes in the weights of the kidneys and thus to show whether any of the sex hormones are physiologically stimulating nephrotrophic factors, and, if so, which; and which of them produce harmful pathological effects.
Historical EFFECT OF CASTRATION AND MALE HORMONESThe first observations on kidneys were made during experiments of comparatively short duration (twenty-one days), when it was found that purified-extracts of male sex hormones from urine increased the weight of the kidneys (both actual and per unit of body weight) in normal and castrated rats (Korenchevsky, Dennison, and Kohn-Speyer, 1933a, 1933b). On the other hand it was found that castration was followed by a decrease in the weight of these organs (Korenchevsky and Dennison, 1934a, 193'5a)..' These, conclusions (decrease after castration and enlargement after injections of male hormones) were confirmed repeatedly in subsequent publications on the effect of different pure crystalline compounds: for androsterone and androstanediol in male and female gonadectomized rats (Korenchevsky, Dennison,
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