[Gonadotropic activity in cultured hypophyses. 1. Adult male rats]

Adenohypophysial tissue of adult male rats was cultivated for 15 days, in order to eliminate influence from rats other organs, and to obtain a stable spontaneous gonadotropins release in culture medium. It was then stimulated from 15th to 25th day of culture with LH-RH and/or testosterone. LH-RH-induced effects : 2 to 6 times increased LH release, and 2 times increased FSH release, declined from 15th to 25th day, suggesting a loss of receptivity to the stimulating hormone. Testosterone had two direct effects on adenohypophysis : first, when added alone to the culture medium, it did not inhibited LH release and stimulated (x2) FSH release; second, it partially inhibited gonadotropin response to LH-RH.