Abstract
Investigations were initiated to elucidate the hormone dependence of collagen levels in male accessory sex organs. In rat ventral prostate (VP) and seminal vesicles (SV) the collagen content was found to increase during puberty; prepubertal castration completely prevented such increases. Treatment of prepubertal castrates with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) through puberty restored collagen in SV and VP to normal. Estrogen treatment of prepubertal castrates had no effect in VP, but provided for a subnormal stimulation in the SV. In adult castrates, the regression in SV and VP collagen was prevented by DHT treatment; estrogen had no significant effect. In all cases, the changes, or lack thereof, in collagen corresponded with changes in organ weight and DNA content. Hormone-induced changes in VP and SV collagen proved to be relatively irreversible. In prepubertal castrates, reversibilities of DHT-induced changes in SV and VP collagen were only 17% and 30%, respectively, contrasting with reversibilities in organ ...
Published Version
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