Technique for study of hypothalamus (-) pituitary (-) testis function in vitro
Vermes, I.; Tóth, E.K.; Telegdy, G.
Endocrinologia Experimentalis 13(2): 97-103
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0013-7200 PMID: 393502 Document Number: 146633
An in vitro system consisting of the rat hypothalamic tissue, the collagenase-digested isolated anterior pituitary cells and the Leydig cells has been employed, where the testosterone production of the incubated Leydig cells was measured as the end point. The method appeared to be highly sensitive and specific in studying the functional interrelations of hypothalamus-pituitary-testis system. The sensitivity of the Leydig cells to hCG release was in the range of 0.1-1.0 ng per 106 cells. Two hypothalamic blocks can release a sufficient amount of LHRH to produce LH secretion in the pituitary cell preparation. The described technique seems to be a suitable in vitro approach for measuring the functional activity of the system studied and for evaluation of the sites of response to various external agents.