THE EFFECT OF INCREASED APPETITE AND OF INSULIN ON GROWTH IN THE HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED RAT

Young hypophysectomized rats were subjected to hypothalamic lesions to increase their appetite. They became as fat as non-hypophysectomized rats treated in the same way, but unlike them retained appreciable amounts of extra protein and water. There was no growth in length, however, and the injection of zinc protamine insulin produced no additional effect either on growth or on appetite.During hyperphagia the greatest accumulation of protein was in the liver, and both the number and size of the liver cells increased. The weight of the kidney was much less affected. Neither normal growth nor regeneration of the liver appeared to be dependent, like that of the kidney or skeleton, upon the presence of the pituitary.