The effect of testosterone on the weight and fructose contents of the accessory glands in males of two inbred strains of mice and their F1 hybrids
Marchlewska-Koj, A.
Folia Biologica 18(3): 221-230
1970
ISSN/ISBN: 0015-5497 PMID: 5493989 Document Number: 21839
In order to determine whether the reduced fertility of mice of the KE and KP strains, in comparison with crosses between these strains, is due to decreased androgen production or to reduced sensitivity of the testes to hormones, castrated of the above strains and of the KP x KE cross received daily intramuscular injections of testosterone propionate for 10 days, starting on the day after castration (which took place at 4 wk of age), the total amount of hormone administered being 62, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000 or 4000/ micro g. On the 11th day the were killed and examined. The exogenous testosterone caused an increase in the weights of seminal vesicles, coagulating glands and ventral and dorsal prostates, as well as a resumption of fructose production in these glands. In the KE and F1, the 62 g dose of testosterone increased accessory gland weight to the level attained by normal of the same age (6 wk), while in the KP strain the glands were even heavier than in controls, suggesting that the testes of 6-wk-old KP normally produce less testosterone than the testes of KE or KP x KE. Larger amounts of testosterone caused further enlargement of the accessory glands, proportional to the dose, in all 3 groups of mice, but even the largest dose did not increase the weights to those found in adult (2- to 3-mth-old). The hybrid were slightly more sensitive to androgens than were of the 2 inbred strains, but all groups showed rather low sensitivity. The 62-g dose of testosterone raised the fructose level in KE and KP x KE castrated to a value slightly above that found in normal of the same age; in similarly treated KP the fructose level was significantly higher than in intact controls. The amount of fructose showed a comparable increase with hormone dose in KP, KE and KP x KE castrated. Although the absolute amounts of fructose in the accessory glands were similar in all groups, the F1 had the lowest fructose content per 100 mg of fresh tissue.