Abstract
THE negative feedback action of testicular steroids on circulating levels of luteinising hormone (LH) is well known. It is less clear how the testis influences follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). The existence of ‘inhibin’, a water-soluble testicular product that inhibits the secretion of FSH, was first postulated in 1932 (ref. 1); recently, inhibin activity has been detected in rete testis fluid2, testicular tissue3, spermatozoa4 and seminal plasma5. Immunisation of rabbits with the inhibin fraction of bull seminal plasma has produced an antiserum which raised plasma FSH levels when injected into male and female rats6. It has been suggested7 that, in the male, inhibin may be produced by the Sertoli cells of the testis. If this is the case, one wonders if inhibin could also be produced by granulosa cells of the ovary. We have, therefore, looked for the presence of a specific FSH-suppressing agent in ovarian follicular fluid by comparing the effects of fluid and peripheral plasma on the levels of FSH and LH in newly castrated male rats.
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DE JONG, F., SHARPE, R. Evidence for inhibin-like activity in bovine follicular fluid. Nature 263, 71–72 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263071a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/263071a0
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