scholarly journals Adrenal microsomal C19-steroid 5α-reductase activity in the Snell transplantable rat adrenocortical tumour 494 and the effect of oestradiol, testosterone propionate and adrenocorticotrophin in intact and gonadectomized rats

1973 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul V. Maynard ◽  
Euan H. D. Cameron

The C19-steroid 5α-reductase activity in the microsomal fraction of rat adrenal tissue under various hormonal treatments was examined. In intact control rats the activity is similar in both males and females, and after gonadectomy it is markedly increased. Treatment with oestradiol (150μg/day per animal for 7 days) or testosterone propionate (2mg/day per animal for 7 days) lowered the activity of 5α-reductase in castrated animals to approximately the values for intact animals in both sexes, and in intact animals the activity was also decreased by these treatments. The enzyme activity was also decreased by adrenocorticotrophin treatment but to a lesser extent than by the steroid hormones. The activity of the 5α-reductase enzyme in the Snell adrenocortical tumour 494 is very low when incubated as a whole homogenate, but the activity in microsomal material of the tumour was measured and unexpectedly found to be similar to that in intact controls.

1975 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Åke Stenberg

ABSTRACT The metabolism of 4-[4-14C]androstene-3,17-dione in rat liver microsomal and cytosol fractions was investigated in adult female rats treated with 1.45 μmole of testosterone propionate at birth. The effects of ovariectomy at 14 and 43 days of age on neonatal testosterone imprinting of enzyme levels were studied. Animals spayed 14 days after birth showed a typical masculinized hepatic enzyme activity pattern with a decreased level of the 5α-reductase activity and increased levels of 5α-reductase, 16α-hydroxylase and 17α- and 3β-hydroxysteroid reductase levels. The pattern was essentially the same in testosterone propionate-treated rats spayed 43 days after birth – with the exception of a feminized 5α-reductase activity – whereas a completely feminized ("de-imprinted") pattern of enzyme activities was found in the rats with intact ovaries at the time of death. It is concluded that de-imprinting action of ovaries is mainly of a reversible nature.


1972 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. V. Maynard ◽  
E. H. D. Cameron

C19-steroid metabolism in homogenates of adrenal tissue from rats and mice has been studied. Production of these compounds from [7α-3H]cholesterol by rat adrenal tissue appeared to follow a route independent of pregnenolone. The major products of [7α-3H]-dehydroepiandrosterone metabolism by rat adrenal tissue were 5α-reduced steroids, principally androsterone, epiandrosterone and 5α-androstanedione. No differences in metabolism of [7α-3H]dehydroepiandrosterone or [4-14C]pregnenolone were detected between adrenal tissue from Sprague–Dawley, Wistar and Osborne–Mendel rats, but experiments with the Snell rat adrenocortical tumour 494 showed that this tissue had low 5α-reductase activity. In contrast, the major products of [7α-3H]dehydroepiandrosterone metabolism by mouse adrenal tissue were 5β-reduced steroids. Differences were observed between LACA and NH strains of mice in that there was a lower metabolism of androstenedione by NH mouse adrenal and a considerable difference in the proportions of aetiocholanolone and epiaetiocholanolone produced.


1975 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Åke Gustafsson ◽  
Åke Stenberg

ABSTRACT The influence of prolactin treatment on the hepatic metabolism of 4-[4-14C]androstene-3,17-dione (in the microsomal and 105 000 × g supernatant fractions) and 5α-[4-14C]androstane-3α,17β-diol (in the microsomal fraction) and on the adrenal metabolism of 4-[4-14C]androstene-3,17-dione was studied in intact and castrated male and female rats with and without concomitant treatment with testosterone propionate. Whereas prolactin gave a significant and specific decrease in the activity of adrenal 5α-reductase by about 20–30 % in both male and female rats no specific effects were noted in the metabolism of steroids in the liver. Neither did prolactin compensate for the relative androgen unresponsiveness characteristic of neonatally castrated male rats. These results suggest that prolactin does not play any significant role in mediating the recently discovered hypophyseal control of sexual differentiation of hepatic steroid metabolism in the rat whereas it may have a function in maintaining sexual differences in alrenal 5α-reductase activity.


1968 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Boyd ◽  
Donald C. Johnson

ABSTRACT The effects of various doses of testosterone propionate (TP) upon the release of luteinizing hormone (LH or ICSH) from the hypophysis of a gonadectomized male or female rat were compared. Prostate weight in hypophysectomized male parabiotic partners was used to evaluate the quantity of circulating LH. Hypophyseal LH was measured by the ovarian ascorbic acid depletion method. Males castrated when 45 days old secreted significantly more LH and had three times the amount of pituitary LH as ovariectomized females. Administration of 25 μg TP daily reduced the amount of LH in the plasma, and increased the amount in the pituitary gland, in both sexes. Treatment with 50 μg caused a further reduction in plasma LH in males, but not in females, while pituitary levels in both were equal to that of their respective controls. LH fell to the same low level in partners of males or females receiving 100 μg TP. When gonadectomized at 39 days, males and females had the same amount of plasma LH, but males had more stored hormone. Pituitary levels were unchanged from controls following treatment with 12.5, 25 or 50 μg TP daily, but plasma values dropped an equal amount in both sexes with the latter two doses. Androgenized males or females, gonadectomized when 39 days old, were very sensitive to the effects of TP and plasma LH was significantly reduced with 12.5 μg daily. Pituitary LH in androgenized males was higher than that of normal males but was reduced to normal by small amounts of TP. The amount of stored LH in androgenized females was not different from that of normal females and it was unchanged by any dose of TP tested. Results are consistent with the conclusion that the male hypothalamic-hypophyseal axis is at least as sensitive as the female axis to the negative feedback effects of TP. Androgenization increases the sensitivity to TP in both males and females.


1983 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Djøseland ◽  
Nicholas Bruchovsky ◽  
Paul S. Rennie ◽  
Navdeep Otal ◽  
Sian Høglo

Abstract. The 5α-reductase activity was assayed in homogenates of stroma and epithelium in the rat ventral prostate and epididymis. Samples consisting of 0.3 mg/ml tissue protein in TES buffer, pH 7.0 were incubated at 37°C for 30 min in the presence of 50 nm [1,2-3H]testosterone and a NADPH-generating system started with 5 × 10−4 m NADP. The yield of 5α-reduced metabolites, as established by using thin-layer chromatography, gave an estimate of enzyme activity. Whereas the specific activity of 5α-reductase was highest in prostatic stroma and epididymal epithelium, most of the total enzyme activity was associated with the epithelium in both the prostate and epididymis. The effect of dihydrotestosterone on specific activity of 5α-reductase was studied by administering the hormone to 7-day castrated rats. In prostate, the specific activity of both stromal and epithelium forms of the enzyme reached a maximum after 4 days of treatment. In epididymis only the epithelial form of 5α-reductase underwent a major change in specific activity, the latter peaking after 8–12 days of treatment. Furthermore, while the total activity of 5α-reductase in the prostatic tissue fractions could be induced by as much as 4-fold the normal control values, the epididymal enzyme could not be induced above the normal level either in the stroma or the epithelium. This may explain the relative resistance of epididymis to abnormal growth stimulation under the influence of hormones.


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 750-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwan Ho

Seventeen isolates, encompassing five genera and eight species of ectomycorrhizal fungi, were compared for acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, and nitrate reductase activity. Isolates within species differed in enzyme activity and isozyme patterns by host specificity and site (as exemplified by the genus Suillus). Host and site may have affected phosphatase enzyme activity. Generally, the Douglas-fir associates, which dominate in mesic sites, have higher acid phosphatase activity than pine associates, which mostly occupy xeric sites; however, pine associates from mesic sites also have higher acid phosphatase activity (e.g., S. tomentosus). In four isolates of Amanita muscaria, the effect of site was also apparent. Two of them, which have significantly higher acid phosphatase activity than the others, were isolated from mesic sites. The isozyme pattern of the genus Suillus appeared to be separated by host groups. Other isolates with only one species also differed more or less by host groups. They shared at least one band within host groups, except for the two isolates of Paxillus involutus from different hosts. The P. involutus S-403 isolated from an orchard showed much higher nitrate reductase activity than all other isolates. No apparent differences in nitrate reductase activity were found between the other isolates.


1979 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coral A. Lamartiniere ◽  
Cindy S. Dieringer ◽  
Etsuko Kita ◽  
George W. Lucier

The hepatic microsomal enzyme UDP-glucuronyltransferase undergoes a complex developmental pattern in which enzyme activity is first detectable on the 18th day of gestation in rats. Prepubertal activities are similar for males and females. However, postpubertal sexual differentiation of enzyme activity occurs in which male activities are twice those of females. Neonatal administration of testosterone propionate or diethylstilboestrol to intact animals resulted in lowered UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity in liver microsomal fractions of adult male rats, whereas no changes were observed in the adult females and prepubertal male and female animals. Neonatal administration of testosterone propionate and diethylstilboestrol adversely affected male reproductive-tract development as evidenced by decreased weights of testes, seminal vesicles and ventral prostate. Diethylstilboestrol also markedly decreased spermatogenesis. Hypophysectomy of adult male rats resulted in negative modulation of microsomal UDP-glucuronyltransferase and prevented the sexual differentiation of enzyme activity. In contrast hypophysectomy had no effect on female UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity. A pituitary transplant under the kidney capsule was not capable of reversing the enzyme effects of hypophysectomy, therefore suggesting that the male pituitary factor(s) responsible for positive modulation of UDP-glucuronyltransferase might be under hypothalamic control in the form of a releasing factor. Neonatal testosterone propionate and diethylstilboestrol administration apparently interfered with the normal sequence of postpubertal UDP-glucuronyltransferase sexual differentiation.


1984 ◽  
Vol 219 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Sarkar ◽  
S Mookerjea

Hepatocytes were prepared from control and inflamed rats. Mannose incorporation into dolichol monophosphate mannose in homogenate and microsomal fraction of the hepatocytes was increased 2-fold over the controls 24 h after induction of inflammation by turpentine injection. Incubation of hepatocytes from both control and inflamed rats with 0.1-10 microM-dexamethasone produced a 1.5-fold increase of dolichol phosphate mannose formation, whereas, 100 microM-dexamethasone decreased its formation. The increase in the ratio of dolichol phosphate mannose formation in inflamed over controls was virtually eliminated when the cell homogenate assay mixtures included 30 nmol of exogenous dolichol phosphate. This supports the earlier suggestion that the increase in the enzyme activity in inflammation could be due to higher concentrations of endogenous dolichol phosphate [Coolbear & Mookerjea (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 4529-4535]. In contrast, the increase in the ratio of dolichol phosphate mannose formation between dexamethasone-treated and untreated hepatocytes remained unchanged when increasing concentrations of exogenous dolichol phosphate were added to the assays. This suggests that the increase in glycosylation of dolichol phosphate in dexamethasone-treated hepatocytes is probably due to the increased mannosyltransferase activity, rather than due to higher concentrations of endogenous dolichol phosphate in these cells.


1975 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
E G Fragoulis ◽  
C E Sekeris

The activity of the enzyme dopa (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) decarboxylase, present in the epidermis cells of blowfly larvae, increases during the late third instar under the influence of the steroid hormone, ecdysone. By using the double-labelling technique and immune precipitation with univalent antibody to dopa decarboxylase, we demonstrated that the increase in enzyme activity was due to a stimulation of synthesis of enzyme molecules de novo. In this respect, the action of ecdysone is similar to the action of other steroid hormones.


1974 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Åke Gustafsson ◽  
Åke Pousette

The regulatory mechanisms involved in the control of the nuclear NADPH-dependent 3-ketosteroid 5α-reductase (5α-reductase) activity were studied in liver, kidney and prostate. The substrate used was [1,2-3H]androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (androstenedione) (for liver and kidney) or [4-14C]androstenedione (for prostate). The hepatic nuclear 5α-reductase activity was greater in female than in male rats, was greater in adult than in prepubertal female rats, increased after castration of male rats, but was not affected by treatment with testosterone propionate or oestradiol benzoate. These regulatory characteristics are in part different from those previously described for the hepatic microsomal 5α-reductase. The renal nuclear metabolism of androstenedione, i.e. 5α reduction and 17β-hydroxy steroid reduction, was relatively unaffected by sex, age, castration and treatment with testosterone propionate. However, treatment of castrated male rats with oestradiol benzoate led to a significant increase in the 5α-reductase activity and a significant decrease in the 17β-hydroxy steroid reductase activity. Finally, the nuclear 5α-reductase activity in prostate was androgen-dependent, decreasing after castration and increasing after treatment with testosterone propionate. In conclusion, the nuclear 5α-reductase activities in liver, kidney and prostate seem to be under the control of distinctly different regulatory mechanisms. The hypothesis is presented that whereas the prostatic nuclear 5α-reductase participates in the formation of a physiologically active androgen, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, this may not be the true function of the nuclear 5α-reductase in liver and kidney. These enzymes might rather serve to protect the androgen target sites in the chromatin from active androgens (e.g. testosterone) by transforming them into less active androgens (e.g. 5α-androstane-3,17-dione and/or 5α-dihydrotestosterone).


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