Concomitant nephrectomy. However, the endogenous parathyroid stimulation produced by nephrectomy also resulted in an increase in bound hydroxyproline which is detectable only after hydrolysis of the lavage fluid or pIasma. The results indicate that hydroxyproline levels in plasma and lavage fluid are parathyroid-dependent and can be correlated with calcium removal under the conditions of parathyroidectomy and/or nephrectomy. These studies further suggest that the breakdown of bone under the influence of parathyroid hormone includes both its organic and inorganic components.

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It is known that the selective injurious effect of cadmium on the testis can be prevented by zinc, cysteine or selenium. Studies, conducted in CD-1 mice, were initiated to determine whether any of these treatments offered protection by preventing cadmium from reaching the testis in doses sufficient to cause injury. Using cadmium chloride, labelled with 109Cd, it was shown that none of these protective agents decreased the amount of cadmium reaching the testis. Zinc acetate evoked no significant changes, cysteine brought about a slight enhancement of cadmium level but selenium dioxide produced a marked and prolonged elevation of cadmium uptake by the testis. Comparable studies in which selenium, rather than cadmium, was labelled (75Se) demonstrated that, in the presence of cadmium, selenium levels were augmented. Possible mechanisms are discussed to explain the diverse means of protection offered by zinc, cysteine and selenium. Since the site of cadmium-induced testicular injury has been pinpointed at its vasculature, it is suggested that these protective agents exert their action at the vascular level.

It has been previously shown that zinc is present in high concentrations in the dorsolateral prostate of the rat (Mawson, C. A. and M. I. Fischer. Nature, London 167: 859, 1951) and that administered Zn65 is selectively taken up by that accessory sex gland (Gunn, S. A., T. C. Gould et al. Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. 88: 556, 1955). This paper demonstrates that Zn65 traverses the entire female reproductive tract after ejaculation. The removal of large amounts of zinc from the ejaculate, by dorsolateral prostatectomy, has no deleterious effect on either fertility or fecundity.

No abstract