The effect of general dietary deficiencies on the response of the prostate of the albino rat to testosterone propionate.

Abstract

THIS study of prostatic growth in the albino rat subjected to various types of general dietary deficiencies was undertaken to attempt to demonstrate the effect or lack of effect of ingested food on the response of the prostate of castrate rats to subcutaneous testosterone propionate. Moore and Samuels (1931) pointed out that the atrophy of seminal vesicles and prostate which resulted from inanition was not due to a failure to respond to androgen but to a failure of androgen production. This has been confirmed by many workers. It has been shown that the injection of chorionic gonadotropin into intact starving rats results in the growth of the male accessories presumably through stimulating male hormone production (Mulinos and Pomerantz, 1941). Pazos and Huggins (1945) demonstrated the ability of completely starved dogs to secrete prostatic fluid under combined testosterone and pilocarpine stimulation and to undergo prostatic growth through testosterone administration under these conditions.