Studies on the mode of action of androgens in the neuroendocrine tissues

Postnatal Development of the Testis in the Rat

Histopathologic examination of the testis from juvenile rats is often necessary to characterize the safety of new drugs for pediatric use and is a required end point in male pubertal development and thyroid function assays. To aid in evaluation and interpretation of the immature testis, the characteristic histologic features of the developing rat testis throughout postnatal development are described and correlated with published neuroendocrine parameter changes. During the neonatal period (postnatal day [PND] 3–7), seminiferous tubules contained gonocytes and mitotically active immature Sertoli cells. Profound proliferation of spermatogonia and continued Sertoli cell proliferation occurred in the early infantile period (PND 8–14). The spermatogonia reached maximum density forming double-layered rosettes with Sertoli cells in the late infantile period (PND 15–20). Leptotene/zygotene spermatocytes appeared centrally as tubular lumina developed, and individual tubules segregated into stages. The juvenile period (PND 21–32) featured a dramatic increase in number and size of pachytene spermatocytes with the formation of round spermatids and loss of “infantile” rosette architecture. In the peri-pubertal period (PND 32–55), stage VII tubules containing step 19 spermatids were visible by PND 46. The presented baseline morphologic and endocrinologic information will help pathologists distinguish delayed development from xenobiotic effects, determine pathogenesis when confronted with nonspecific findings, and identify sensitive time points for targeted study design.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: prepubertal exposures and effects on sexual maturation and thyroid function in the male rat. A focus on the EDSTAC recommendations. Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Advisory Committee

Puberty in mammalian species is a period of rapid interactive endocrine and morphological changes. Therefore, it is not surprising that exposure to a variety of pharmaceutical and environmental compounds has been shown to dramatically alter pubertal development. This concern was recognized by the Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC) that acknowledged the need for the development and standardization of a protocol for the assessment of the impact of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDC) in the pubertal male and recommended inclusion of an assay of this type as an alternative test in the EDSTAC tier one screen (EPA, 98). The pubertal male protocol was designed to detect alterations of pubertal development, thyroid function, and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) system peripubertal maturation. In this protocol, intact 23-day-old weanling male rats are exposed to the test substance for 30 days during which pubertal indices are measured. After necropsy, reproductive and thyroid tissues are weighed and evaluated histologically and serum taken for hormone analysis. The purpose of this review was to examine the available literature on pubertal development in the male rat and evaluate the efficacy of the proposed protocol for identifying endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The existing data indicate that this assessment of puberty in the male rat is a simple and effective method to detect the EDC activity of pesticides and toxic substances.

Somatostatin infusion inhibits the stimulatory effect of testosterone on endosteal bone formation in the mouse

To investigate whether the effects of testosterone (T) on endosteal bone metabolism may be mediated by growth hormone (GH), intact male mice were infused for ten days with T (5 or 15 mg/kg/d) alone, or combined either with native somatostatin (SRIF) (220 micrograms/kg/d) or with the long-acting somatostatin analog SMS 201-995. Testosterone infusion induced a dose-dependent increase in histomorphometric parameters of bone formation, causing a 25% increase in osteoblastic and osteoid surface and 10% to 12% stimulation of the matrix and mineral appositional rates. Stimulation of bone formation rate was associated with a 2- to 3-fold increase in the incidence of serum GH peaks of high amplitude. SRIF (220 micrograms/kg/d) and SMS at low dose (4.32 micrograms/kg/d) decreased parameters of bone formation by 20% to 25%. At a higher dosage (13 micrograms/kg/d), which mildly decreased serum glucose and longitudinal bone growth, SMS further reduced bone formation rate. Infusion of SRIF with T (5 mg/kg/d) blunted the stimulatory effect of T. Similarly, infusion of a high dose of SMS (13 micrograms/kg/d), together with T (15 mg/kg/d), abolished the effect of T (15 mg/kg/d) without altering serum glucose or mineral levels. The effect of SRIF on testosterone-induced (5 mg/kg/d) bone formation was associated with inhibition of T-induced high-amplitude GH peaks. The results indicate that T stimulates the osteoblastic bone formation in association with increased GH secretion, whereas SRIF and the analog SMS produce inhibitory effects.

The effects of neonatal androgenization of male rats on testosterone metabolism by the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis

Male rats were androgenized on the third postnatal day by a single injection of 1 mg testosterone propionate. The in vitro metabolism of [4-14C]testosterone by pituitary and hypothalamus homogenates was investigated at the age of 90 days. The pituitary and hypothalamus homogenates from control and neonatally androgenized animals converted [4-14C]testosterone to the same metabolites, mainly 5 alpha-reduced derivatives; the quantitative yield of 5 alpha-reduced metabolites was much higher in the pituitary homogenates of androgenized rats. The hypothalamic homogenates showed no differences. In the androgenized rats a very significant increase of the plasma FSH levels was measured while the LH levels were also augmented. The plasma levels of testosterone were not different from the values in control rats, notwithstanding a 25% reduction in testes weight. The present experiments appear to indicate that the neonatal androgenization results in an accentuation of the sexual dimorphism which normally exists in the pituitary of adult rats for the 5 alpha-reductase activity.

The 5 alpha-reductase activity of the subcortical white matter, the cerebral cortex, and the hypothalamus of the rat and of the mouse: possible sex differences and effect of castration

Previous studies have shown that the central nervous system is able to convert testosterone into 17-beta-hydroxy-5-alpha-androstan-3-one (DHT), by the action of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. The data here presented show that, in the brain of the rat and the mouse of both sexes, the 5-alpha-reductase activity is more concentrated in the subcortical white matter than in the hypothalamus and in the cerebral cortex. The enzymatic activity is apparently higher in the rat than in the mouse brain. The formation of DHT in the subcortical white matter, in the hypothalamus and in the cerebral cortex of both rats and mice does not show any sexual difference. Moreover, in the rat no effect of short- or long-term castration or neonatal castration or testosterone replacement could be observed on the formation of DHT in the three brain structures considered (even in the subcortical white matter, the cerebral tissue more active in converting testosterone into DHT). The present data support the view that the 5-alpha-reductase present in the brain is not under androgenic control.

Role of prolactin in the regulation of sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary system to steroid feedback

During sexual maturation, pituitary gonadotropins stimulate the gonads to produce increasing amounts of biologically active steroids and yet gonadotropin release does not become suppressed until concentrations of sex hormones, LH and FSH, in peripheral circulation stabilizes at a higher adult level. There is a substantial amount of evidence that in many mammals, this transition from prepubertal to adult level of activity of the pituitary-gonadal axis is associated with a reduction in the sensitivity of the hypothalamic-adenohypophyseal system to negative feedback of gonadal steroids. In the female, these changes are accompanied by the appearance of positive estrogen feedback on gonadotropin release. In seasonal breeders, annual transitions between the periods of gonadal activity and quiescence are associated with corresponding shifts in the sensitivity to steroid feedback. Peripheral levels of pituitary prolactin (PRL) typically increase during sexual maturation and exhibit large seasonal fluctuations in response to changes in photoperiod and ambient temperature. We propose that PRL is one of the factors which regulate the sensitivity of gonadotropin release to gonadal steroid feedback. In hyperprolactinemic women, responsiveness to negative estrogen feedback increases, while LH response to positive estrogen feedback is reduced or absent. In hyperprolactinemic men, both LH and testosterone levels are reduced, implying increased sensitivity of LH release to negative testosterone feedback. In the male rat, both physiological amounts of PRL and experimentally-induced hyperprolactinemia increase the ability of exogenous testosterone to suppress LH and FSH release. Different regulatory mechanisms appear to operate in the seasonally breeding male golden hamster, in which short photoperiod causes concomitant suppression of PRL, LH, FSH and testosterone release. In this species, pharmacologic suppression of PRL release leads to increased responsiveness of plasma gonadotropin levels to negative feedback effects of testosterone, while PRL-secreting ectopic pituitary transplants exert an opposite effect. We have examined some of the suspected mechanisms of PRL modulation of testosterone feedback in male golden hamsters. In immature animals, the amount of cytoplasmic androgen receptors in the anterior pituitary was decreased by mild hyperprolactinemia and increased by treatment with bromocriptine, an inhibitor of PRL release. Bromocriptine increased pituitary androgen binding also in adult hamsters. These findings would imply that PRL modulates the responsiveness to negative steroid feedback at the pituitary level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Testosterone 5 alpha-reductase in discrete hypothalamic nuclear areas in the rat: effect of castration

The conversion of testosterone into 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) has been studied in different hypothalamic nuclear areas and in the superficial layers of the cerebral cortex of normal and castrated male rats. The tissue fragments utilized in each incubation have been punched from frozen brain sections utilizing calibrated needles. Castration has been performed 12 (short term) and 180 (long term) days before sacrifice. The nuclear areas studied include: the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN), the lateral preoptic nucleus (LPN), the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHN), the lateral hypothalamic nucleus (LHN), the posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PHN), the nucleus ventromedialis (HVM), the arcuate nucleus (AR), the median eminence (ME), the nucleus paraventricularis (HPV), the supraoptic nucleus (SO) and the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SC). The possible effect of castration on the 5 alpha-reductase, were assessed in the MPN,LPN,AHN,LHN,PHN and in the cerebral cortex. The results indicate that, in the male rat: 1) the lateral preoptic(LPN) and the lateral hypothalamic nuclei(LHN) possess a 5 alpha-reductase activity higher than that present in the cerebral cortex and in the other hypothalamic nuclei considered; 2)the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SC) apparently possesses a testosterone metabolizing activity lower than that found in any other nervous structures studied so far; 3) castration does not seem to influence the 5 alpha-reductase activity either in the hypothalamic nuclear structures considered or in the cerebral cortex.

Is the 5 alpha-reductase of the hypothalamus and of the anterior pituitary neurally regulated? Effects of hypothalamic deafferentations and of centrally acting drugs

The following experiments have been performed in order to verify whether the conversion of testosterone into its 5 alpha-reduced metabolites, 5 alpha-androstane-17 beta-ol-3-one (DHT), 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol (3 alpha-diol) and 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta,17 beta-diol (3 beta-diol), in the hypothalamus and in the anterior pituitary is controlled by neural stimuli. Long-term castrated male rats have been submitted to anterior and total deafferentations of the hypothalamus and to the administration of the following centrally acting drugs: reserpine, p-chlorophenylalanine pCPA and atropine sulphate. The possible involvement of the central opioid system has also been investigated utilizing morphine and naloxone. Neither hypothalamic deafferentations, nor the treatment with reserpine, pCPA, atropine, morphine or naloxone produce any significant modification in the metabolism of testosterone in the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic deafferentations and treatments with reserpine, morphine and naloxone are also ineffective in changing the pattern of testosterone metabolism in the anterior pituitary. On the contrary, atropine and pCPA seem to affect the conversion of testosterone in the gland, both drugs producing an increased formation of DHT and 3 alpha-diol but not of 3 beta-diol. It is concluded that the 5 alpha-reductase-3-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase system of the hypothalamus does not appear to be controlled either neurally by inputs coming from other brain structures, or by variations of the neurotransmitter content in the hypothalamus itself. Serotonin and acetylcholine seem to participate in the control of testosterone metabolism at pituitary level, even if it is not clear whether their action takes place directly on the gland, or is mediated through some hypothalamic factor(s). Moreover, it does not appear that brain opioids are involved in the control of the enzymatic complex under consideration either in the hypothalamus or in the anterior pituitary.

Effects of orchidectomy and dihydrotestosterone on the choline acetyltransferase activity of specific rat brain areas

1. The choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity of specific brain areas was determined in adult intact, orchidectomized and dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-treated orchidectomized rats. 2. Results show that orchidectomy decreased ChAT activity in most brain areas studied. 3. However, DHT treatment of orchidectomized animals increased ChAT activity only in the cerebral cortex.

Effects of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone and methandrostenolone in male guinea pigs

Young adult guinea pigs were studied 6 and 9 weeks after silastic capsules containing 5 alpha-hydrotestosterone (5 alpha-DHT) and methandrostenolone (Dianabol) were implanted. DHT was more effective in causing testicular atrophy and was apparently more androgenically potent in sustaining the size of the seminal vesicles. Both steroids led to hypertrophy of the masseter muscle and increase in gastrocnemius protein concentration. Cardiac tissue was sensitive to the effects of these steroids, particularly to the larger amounts of absorbed Dianabol, in terms of increases in DNA concentration and transient loss of tissue sodium, potassium, and calcium. All alterations in muscle composition occurred in the total absence of change in tissue water. Hypernatremia and hyperkalemia was present in steroid-treated animals with significant loss of urinary potassium in DHT-treated guinea pigs. Adrenal atrophy and the lowering of circulating cortisol was further indicative of effects upon adrenocortical function and the regulation of electrolyte balance.

Stimulatory effect of dihydrotestosterone on the acetylcholinesterase activity of rat adenohypophysis

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the adenohypophysis of adult orchidectomized rats, and of orchidectomized rats treated with 100 microgram/100 g b.w. of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), was determined by a spectrophotometric method. Our result shows a significant increase in AChE activity of the adenohypophysis of orchidectomized rats treated with DHT.