The hypothalamo-hypophyseal system in female rats with an anovulatory cycle

An electron-microscopic study was made of the suprachiasmatic and acurate nuclei of the hypothalamus, the intermediate and anterior lobes of the hypophysis in infertile female rats, sterilized by one injection of testosterone propionate in the critical period of their sexual development. Deformed synapses were detected on the bodies of the neurocytes of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the accumulation of secretory granules and synaptoid vesicles in the nerve terminals of the intermediate lobe, and an intensive formation of secretion by the prolactin-producing adenocytes of the hypophysis. The mechanism of the masculinizing effect of androgens at the level of the hypothalamus and the possibility of correction of the anovulatory cycle in sterile females are discussed.