ABSTRACT
The response of the pigeon crop-sac to systemically acting prolactin (injected subcutaneously) was evaluated by measuring the wet weight of the responsive lateral lobes of the organ and by determining the dry weight of a 4 cm diameter disc of mucosal epithelium taken from one hemicrop. Of several different injection schedules tested, administration of prolactin in four daily injections was found to yield optimal responses. When compared with a graded series of prolactin doses, measurement of the mucosal dry weight proved to be a better method of response quantification than determination of the crop-sac wet weight with respect to both assay sensitivity and precision. The submucosal tissue of the crop-sac was estimated to constitute about 64 % of the total dry weight of the unstimulated organ and it was found to be relatively unresponsive to prolactin stimulation in comparison with the mucosa. The lipid content of the mucosal epithelium was determined using unstimulated crop-sacs or tissues which showed varying degrees of prolactin-induced proliferation. The fat content of the mucosal epithelial cells increased only slightly more rapidly than the dry weight or the defatted dry weight of the mucosa. Suggestions are made for the further improvement of the systemic crop-sac assay for prolactin.