A study of the effects of steroids on alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated contraction of the rat vas deferens.

Abstract

SUMMARY 1. Testosterone propionate (0·5 mg/day) administered for 5 weeks to prepubertal rats increased the weight of sex accessory organs but did not alter the rate of gain of body weight. Methandienone, given in a similar dosage regimen, was without effect on these parameters. The synthetic progestagen, norgestrel, administered orally in a dose of 0·5 mg/day increased the weight of the vas deferens but was without effect on seminal vesicle and testis weights and on the growth rate. Given in combination with testosterone, norgestrel caused a marked decrease in testis weight and reversed the effects of testosterone propionate on seminal vesicle weight. Thus, in the dosage regimen used, this progestagen exhibited an endocrine profile comprising androgenic, synandro-genic and anti-androgenic effects. 2. Rats, which were castrated when they weighed 70–80 g, exhibited rates of gain of body weight which were similar to those of control animals. Testosterone propionate in the doses used reversed castration-induced atrophy of the vas deferens and seminal vesicle. 3. The contractility of the vas deferens of intact rats, determined by direct field electrical stimulation, was unaffected by treatment with the steroids used in this study. However, there was a marked impairment of the contractility of the vas deferens following castration, which was not fully restored by testosterone propionate in the dosage regimen used. 4. The efficacies and potencies of the α-adrenoceptor agonists phenylephrine and 1-metaraminol in causing contraction of the vasa deferentia from intact rats were unaffected by the steroid treatments. In contrast, these agonists did not produce sustained, dose-dependent contractions of the vasa deferentia from castrated rats; however testosterone propionate fully restored the efficacy and potency of both agonists. 5. It is concluded from this study that although adequate testosterone levels are necessary for the maintenance of contractility in the rat vas deferens, the integrity of postjunctional adrenoceptors in not modified by a variety of steroid treatments.