Abstract
Summary
Experiments on male albino rats indicate that chronic treatment with large doses of methyl-testosterone elicit changes in the adrenal cortex which are characterized by an involution of the glomerulosa, marked thickening of the connective tissue and deposition of coarse fat granules in the cells of the fasciculata and reticularis. In many cases these fat granules fuse into a single voluminous lipid globule which distends the cytoplasm and pushes the nucleus to one side. Consequently the epithelial cells of the cortex assume the appearance of ordinary fat cells. Although in the rat testoid compounds do not cause a specific involution of the reticularis as they do in the mouse, the above mentioned changes are considered to be a typical response of the cortical cells to overdosage with testoid substances.
Contrary to previous observations in man the serum potassium showed no significant change following treatment with methyl-testosterone in the rat.
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