Abstract
On incubation with testosterone (T), nonflagellate germ cells of rat testis produced dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 5a-androstane-3cs, I 7�I-diol (3o-diol). When the concentration of T was adjusted to 0.1 �zM (its level in rete testis fluid), 4-androstene-3, 17-dione (A) and DHT accumulated during the first 30 mm; during the subsequent 90 mm, A declined and 3&-diol accumulated, DHT remaining at almost constant level. Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA, 5 pM) abolished 3s-diol production, but allowed DHT to accumulate at linear rates. Separation of nonflagellate germ cells by velocity gradient sedimentation yielded spermatocytes and spermatids as major fractions. On incubation with 0.1 pM T, the spermatocytes produced A and DHT; the spermatids, although metabolizing T at lower rates, produced relatively large amounts of 3cs-diol. In the presence of T in physiological concentration, MPA did not inhibit Scs-reductase or 1 713-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase of germ cells. It abolished 3o-diol formation in the spermatids, allowing DHT to accumulate in equivalent amounts. The action of MPA as a specific inhibitor of 3o-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase without effect on Scs-reductase was also observed in rat prostate extracts when
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