ABSTRACT
The effects of testosterone* and related steroids on the oxidative and glycolytic metabolism of freshly collected ram testicular spermatozoa and of spermatozoa stored under air in rete testis fluid for 3 days at 3°C have been studied. When freshly collected testicular spermatozoa were incubated with glucose under aerobic conditions only a small proportion of the utilized glucose could be accounted for as lactate. The addition of a number of steroids, including testosterone, androstanedione, 5β-androstanedione, androsterone, epiandrosterone and 5β-androsterone, greatly increased aerobic glycolysis, the oxidation of the substrate and the proportion of the utilized substrate converted to lactic acid.
After 3 days storage at 3°C, testicular spermatozoa respired at a greater rate than spermatozoa freshly collected from the testes. Although the stimulating effect of steroids on aerobic glycolysis increased after storage, they depressed rather than stimulated the oxidation of glucose by stored testicular spermatozoa. With the exception of androstanedione, which slightly stimulated glycolysis, storage of testicular spermatozoa for 3 days in the presence of steroids did not significantly influence their subsequent metabolism when washed free of the steroids. Both freshly collected and stored ram testicular spermatozoa displayed a marked Pasteur effect, and utilized more glucose and produced more lactate under anaerobic than under aerobic conditions. In the absence of oxygen the steroids did not stimulate glycolysis to any extent. However, epiandrosterone depressed the glycolysis of freshly collected spermatozoa under anaerobic conditions and after storage, 5β-androsterone had a similar effect.
Androstanedione, 5β-androstanedione, epiandrosterone and 5β-androsterone were the most effective steroids in altering the metabolism of testicular spermatozoa and, under almost all conditions of incubation, depressed the synthesis of amino acids from glucose. The results suggest that the effects of testosterone and related steroids in vitro may depend on the age of the spermatozoa after their release from the Sertoli cells; the steroid effects may have important consequences in vivo in relation to sperm maturation.
A case of adenocarcinoma of the rete testis with durable response to cisplatin‐based chemotherapy
