While the ventral prostates of mature rats that have been gonadectomized rapidly assume the characteristics of the castrate state, those of gonadectomized immature animals retain a functional appearance up to the age of puberty (Price, 1936). Since the testes have been removed, an extra-gonadal source must be responsible for the post-operative maintenance of the sex accessories in the latter instance. Two endocrine glands have been implicated in the process, namely, the adrenal and the pituitary. Both glands are known to be the source of a number of secretion products; however, just which hormones are responsible for the observed maintenance of the ventral prostate in the gonadectomized immature rat is unknown, and the mechanism through which the maintenance is accomplished is not understood.
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Lostroh et al. (1957) studied this question.