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Hyperplasia of the Parathyroids and the Pituitary in Rats with Experimental Leydigiomas and Inhibitory Effect of Several Steroids

Department of Internal Medicine, Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut, 06418

Bilateral orchidectomy performed on 10- to 15-day-old Wistar rats, immediately followed by the homograft of one testis into the splenopancreatic epiploon, resulted 6 months later in leydigiomas at the site of the graft in 100% of the animals. After this latency period, the tumors continued to grow proportionately to time elapsed and were associated with both pituitary microadenomas of the aldehyde-fuchsin-, aldehyde-thionin-periodic acid-Schiff-, and periodic acid-Schiff-positive cells and diffuse hyperplasia of the parathyroids, affecting in particular the chief cells of the latter.

After a 6- or 12-month leydigioma latency period, the rats were given a daily treatment by gavage for 45 days of one or two of the following steroids: Compound A, 17-ethynyl, (5)-androst-2-en, 17ß-ol (17ß-acetate) (5 mg/kg when alone; 2.5 mg/kg when combined); Compound B, 17-ethynyl, (5)-androst-2-en, 17ß-ol (17ß-nicotinate) (always given in combined form at 2 mg/kg); Compound C, 16-oximinoestrone, 3-allyl ether (2 mg/kg when combined). The treatments caused, in various degrees, (a) involution of the leydigiomas until complete disappearance in up to 50% of the cases; (b) recovery of the characteristic morphological pattern of the pituitaries; and (c) cytolysis and interstitial fibrosis in the previously hyperplastic parathyroids.

¹ Present address: Clinique Endocrinologique, Faculté de Médecine Pitié-Salpetrière, Hôpital de la Pitié, 75013 Paris, France.

Received 2/17/76. Accepted 7/ 7/76.