Biology of Reproduction, Vol 14, 561-565, Copyright © 1976 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

In vitro Conversion of Testosterone to Various Metabolites by the Teased Testicular Tissue of Normal and Posthypophysectomized Regressed Rats

¹ Departments of Anatomy and Physiology, University of Southern California, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033

Teased testicular tissues from normal and one-month posthypophysectomized rats were incubated in Tris buffer containing ³H-testosterone for 30 min and 2 h at 37°C. Identical portions of tissues were incubated without the ³H-testosterone for microscopic examination. The results of the incubation showed that the tissue from normal as well as hypophysectomized rats converted the ³H-testosterone to a number of metabolites. The amount of ₄-androstenedione converted by the normal tissue was significantly greater than the hypophysectomized tissues. The latter produced more 5 -reduced metabolites than the normals. Although metabolism of testosterone occurred over the duration of 2 h, histologically even at the 30 min incubation period, the tissue from both groups showed pronounced degenerative changes. By 2 h the degenerative changes were quite advanced. It remains to be seen if there is any correlation between morphological integrity and androgen metabolism by the in vitro testicular preparations.