Adult prooestrous rats were injected subcutaneously with chlorpromazine prior to the »critical period« (2:00 p. m.–4:00 p.m.) to prevent ovulation. Midway through the »critical period« (3:00 p. m.) these blocked females were injected intravenously with varying doses of follicle stimulating hormone which had been maintained overnight at room temperature or incubated with chymotrypsin overnight in a waterbath maintained between 35–36°C. Results showed that the amount of NIHFSH-S7 calculated to cause ovulation was nearly identical for enzyme exposed (15.49 μg) and unexposed (15.36 μg) FSH. The Parlow assay was used to verify that the enzyme specifically digested the LH contaminant of FSH. Significant depletions of ascorbic acid were obtained only with NIHFSH-S7 samples that were unexposed to the enzyme. Overnight incubation of FSH with chymotrypsin completely prevented depletion of ovarian ascorbic acid, verifying that the enzyme digested the LH contaminant present in NIHFSH-S7. These data further support our concept that follicle stimulating hormone by itself induces ovulation in CPZ blocked rats.
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Harrington et al. (1970) studied this question.