SUMMARY
Single intravenous injections of ovine luteinizing hormone (LH) in adult hamsters and rats had no effect on fluid secretion by the testes, as measured by the gain in weight or water content during a 10-h period after ligation of the efferent ducts (EDL). Neither was there any obvious effect on the liberation of spermatozoa, as judged by the total number of sperm in the unligated and EDL testes and from the concentration of spermatozoa in the secreted fluid, calculated from the difference between the number of sperm in the EDL and unligated testes divided by the difference in weight.
In adult rats treated for 9 weeks with human chorionic gonadotrophin and/or pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin, there was a decrease in sperm production (measured as described above during a 20-h period after EDL) when the two hormones were given together. These treatments, continued for 3 or 9 weeks, had no effect on testicular weight, nor on the secretion of fluid, and the two hormones given together for 9 weeks caused a decrease in the concentration of sperm in collected rete testis fluid. The concentration of spermatozoa in collected rete testis fluid was about one quarter of the calculated concentration in the total secreted fluid.
Ovine follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) injected daily for 3 days in 21-day-old rats stimulated fluid secretion slightly, and FSH +ovine growth hormone stimulated fluid secretion by the testes of adult rats with oestrogen implants. Ovine LH caused a slight decrease in fluid secretion in oestrogen-treated adults and also in the 21-day-old rats. Ovine prolactin and growth hormone had no significant effect on fluid secretion by the testis in these two groups of rats.
Sperm Production of Holstein Bulls Determined from Testicular Spermatid Reserves, after Cannulation of Rete Testis or Vas Deferens, and by Daily Ejaculation