Androgen Metabolism by the Perfused Prostate

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the androgen metabolism by the perfused prostate. It is demonstrated that the prostate will concentrate steroid androgen against a blood plasma gradient. Rats are anesthetized with Nembutal, and the arterial supply of all pelvic structures, except the prostate, are ligated through a midline incision. It is found that after the administration of heparin to the animal, the prostate is perfused through the abdominal aorta and vena cava with heterogenous rat blood containing radioactive testosterone. The perfused dog prostate will secrete 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) into prostatic venous blood, as is also the case with the perfused testis and the perfused epididymis. It is found that when radioactive T is perfused at a constant rate via the prostatic arteries in animal preparation C, the true specific radioactivity of T in venous blood is much higher than that of T in the prostatic tissue after the preparation has achieved metabolic equilibrium. It is observed that when dog prostates arc infused with radioactive T in animal preparation C, the true specific radioactivity of secreted and tissue-stored DHT is much lower than that of secreted and tissue-stored T.