Pseudohermaphrodite rat: end organ insensitivity to testosterone

The pseudohermaphrodite rat is characterized by lack of androgen-dependent differentiation. Treatment of these rats with testosterone failed to produce the expected changes in preputial and adrenal gland weights and hexobarbital metabolism. This insitivity of the end organ to testosterone could not be explained by defective formation of dihydrotestosterone.

Testicular tumors in the androgen insensitive pseudohermaphrodite rat: histochemistry and steroid metabolism

Testicular neoplasms with a cumulative incidence of about 25% occurred in the androgen insensitive pseudohermaphroditic (Ps) rat by 20 months of age. Tumors contained germ cells, Sertoli cells and Leydig cells. The tumor Leydig cells were histochemically similar to the Leydig cells of the Ps testis. The tumors metabolized pregnenolone-4¹⁴C at a slower rate than the Ps testes but the patterns of steroid metabolites were similar; both the tumors and the Ps testes have a defective 17Β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase when compared to normal testes. The similarity of the tumors in Ps rat and in patients with testicular feminization was reviewed.