RESTORATION OF ENZYMATIC ACTIVITY IN THE SUBMAXILLARY GLAND OF THE HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED ALBINO RAT1

SINCE Lacassagne (1) demonstrated a morphologic sex difference of submaxillary glands in mice, a large number of studies and experiments have accumulated which indicate a hormonal control of at least some of the functions of these glands in rats and mice. It has been shown that hypophysectomy (2), thyroidectomy (3), castration (4), and a combination of castration and thyroidectomy (5) lead to a relative reduction of the intralobular ducts in the submaxillary gland of rats. Changes after thyroidectomy, castration, and castration-thyroidectomy were reversed following injections of thyroxine, testosterone, and the combination of the two hormones. It was further demonstrated that hypophysectomy results in the reduction of proteolytic activity of these glands (2). The present study was undertaken to study the effect of testosterone and thyroxine on the enzymatic action of the submaxillary gland of hypophysectomized rats and to correlate these findings with the morphologic changes of the glands.