Abstract
The mechanism of action of weight reduction of the ventral prostate by gestonorone caproate (GC) in rats was studied. GC was subcutaneously injected (100 mg/week/rat) for 3 weeks in normal rats, castrated rats, castrated rats treated with testosterone propionate (TP, 0.03–0.24 mg/2 days/rat) and hypophysectomized rats treated with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, 4 IU/day/rat). The following results were obtained. In normal rats, weights of the prostates and seminal vesicles and serum levels of testosterone (T) were decreased significantly by treatment with GC (about half of the non-treated controls), whereas the weights of testes, spermatogenesis and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) receptor in the cytosol of the prostate remained unchanged. In castrated rats without TP treatment, weights of prostates and serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were similar in both groups of rats, whether treated with GC or not. In castrated rats treated with TP, weights of prostates and seminal vesicles showed no significant decrease under treatment with GC but serum LH levels decreased significantly. In hypophysectomized rats treated with hCG, prostate weights and serum T levels were similar in both groups. In addition, GC did not compete for [ 3H]-DHT binding sites in cytosol from rat prostate. From these results it can be concluded that the decrease of prostate weight by GC treatment is due mainly to the reduction of LH and testosterone secretion, but not to a direct inhibitory effect of GC on target cells for gonadotropins and androgens.
Published Version
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