Search

The antifertility activity of an oxidized polyphenolic acid from Lithospermum ruderale was investigated. A polyphenolic acid was isolated from the roots of Lithospermum ruderale and was named lithospermic acid(LA). No biological activity of LA was observed in the rat or the chicken. When LA was oxidized enzymically a substance was obtained which inactivated exogenous and endogenous gonadotropins in the female rat and prevented ovulation in the laying hen. A cold water root extract was partitioned into 5 fractions which were administered orally to immature female rats. Only the original extract and 1 fraction composed of oxidized LA revealed a signigicant (p less than .05) inactivation of exogenous gonadotropin. In an additional study the same cold water extract fraction as well as enzymically oxidized lithospermic acid revealed antiovulatory properties when injected into the laying hen. These results indicate that oxidized LA present in the Lithospermum ruderale roots is responsible for some of the antigonadotropic effect oberved with the cold water extracts.

SummaryInjections of purified bovine LH (NIH-LH-B3) in rabbits produced circulating antibodies which were associated with atrophy of the testes and epididymides. Bovine LH and crude rabbit anterior pituitary extract contained a similar antigen which was not a component of normal bovine serum. Results were attributed to an autoimmune phenomenon with circulating antibodies common to NIH-LH-B3 and endogenous gonadotropin.

SummaryAndrogen levels in mature male and female rainbow trout were higher than in maturing fish. Castration reduced plasma androgens in the male more rapidly than in the female.

SummaryChicken liver was incubated with C14-labeled diethylstilbestrol (C14-DES). Without incubation 94.6% of the radioactivity was extracted with ethanol while after incubation only 82.6% was removed from the tissue. Partition of the radioactivity between water and ether at pH 7 gave 7% of the counts in water from unincubated tissue and 75% of the counts in water after incubation. Hydrolysis of the aqueous portion with β-glucuronidase and paper chromatography established that the material was conjugated DES. Assay of the extracts for uterotropic activity using immature mice indicated that the conjugate was but 8% as potent as the free compound although incubation caused a 50% loss of estrogenic potency.