GONADAL FACTORS REGULATING THE ACTIVITY OF THE 17β-HYDROXYSTEROID OXIDOREDUCTASE IN RAT LIVER

1974 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Thaler-Dao ◽  
H. Breuer

ABSTRACT The activity of the 17β-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase (17β-HSOR), catalysing the oxidoreduction of oestradiol-17β and oestrone, has been studied in the cytosol fraction of rat liver under various conditions. The activity of the enzyme increased during maturation and reached a plateau at 100 days in females and at 180 days in males. In adult male rats, the activity of the 17β-HSOR was about 60% higher than in adult female rats. When female animals were castrated, the development of enzyme activity was similar to that observed in male rats; there was no difference in enzyme activity between adult castrated female rats and normal male rats. In normal female rats the activity of the 17β-HSOR was high during metoestrus and dioestrus, and low during pro-oestrus and oestrus. These findings show that oestrogens have a repressing effect on the activity of a key enzyme of steroid metabolism in rat liver.

1973 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. C. Griffiths ◽  
K. C. Hooper

ABSTRACT The activity of peptidases in the rat hypothalamus which are capable of inactivating oxytocin has previously been found to vary with stimuli known to influence gonadotrophin release and may be related to both luteinizing hormone (LH) and luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LH-RF) release (Griffith & Hooper 1972a,b). In the present study, enzyme activity was determined in normal female rats during the morning and afternoon of each stage of the oestrous cycle, in normal rats, and in female rats injected neonatally with testosterone. The activity of the supernatant fraction was found to be not significantly different during the morning of each stage, but was greatly decreased on the afternoon of pro-oestrus; particulate activity did not vary during the oestrous cycle. Supernatant and particulate activities were found to be the same in normal male rats and testosterone-treated females, as previously shown. Both fractions' activities were significantly less than those found in the oestrous cycle, other than on the afternoon of pro-oestrus. These results indicate changes in hypothalamic peptidase activity during the oestrous cycle which may be inversely related to LH and LH-RF release; they also confirm the masculinizing effect of neonatal testosterone on the hypothalamus.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Nehlig ◽  
Linda J. Porrino ◽  
Alison M. Crane ◽  
Louis Sokoloff

The quantitative 2-[14C]deoxyglucose autoradiographic method was used to study the fluctuations of energy metabolism in discrete brain regions of female rats during the estrous cycle. A consistent though statistically nonsignificant cyclic variation in average glucose utilization of the brain as a whole was observed. Highest levels of glucose utilization occurred during proestrus and metestrus, whereas lower rates were found during estrus and diestrus. Statistically significant fluctuations were found specifically in the hypothalamus and in some limbic structures. Rates of glucose utilization in the female rat brain were compared with rates in normal male rats. Statistically significant differences between males and females at any stage of the estrous cycle were confined mainly to hypothalamic areas known to be involved in the control of sexual behavior. Glucose utilization in males and females was not significantly different in most other cerebral structures.


1989 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kashimata ◽  
M. Hiramatsu ◽  
N. Minami

ABSTRACT The effect of human GH (hGH) on hepatic epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors in the rat was investigated. Continuous administration of hGH through an osmotic minipump, mimicking the female pattern of GH secretion, to normal male rats reduced the binding of 125I-labelled EGF to hepatic membranes to the normal female levels. The same treatment of hGH applied to hypophysectomized males had no apparent effect on EGF binding. Intermittent s.c. administration of hGH twice a day (every 12 h), mimicking the male pattern of GH secretion, to hypophysectomized male and/or normal female rats, caused a significant increase in EGF binding to the levels of normal male rats. Scatchard analysis of the binding data clearly showed that the change in EGF binding was due to a change in the number of EGF receptors. The results on the affinity labelling and phosphorylation of EGF receptors were in good agreement with those showing differences in the number of EGF receptors among the experimental groups. These results indicate that the number of hepatic EGF receptors in the rat is regulated by the differential secretory rhythm of pituitary GH between the sexes. Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 123, 75–81


1977 ◽  
Vol 162 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
G S Rao ◽  
G Haueter ◽  
M L Rao ◽  
H Breuer

1. Microsomal preparations from rat liver, kidney and intestine were tested for UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity by using oestrone, oestradiol-17 beta, oestriol, testosterone, cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, aldosterone, tetrahydrocortisol and tetrahydrocortisone as substrates. The microsomal preparation from the liver glucuronidated oestrone, oestradiol-17 beta and testosterone. 2. The specific activity of the enzyme was significantly higher in livers from female rats than in those from male rats. 3. Testosterone was actively glucuronidated by both sexes. Cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, aldosterone, tetrahydrocortisol and tetrahydrocortisone were not glucuronidated by any of the three tissues. 4. The non-ionic detergent Lubrol WX activates liver microsomal UDP-glucuronyltransferase 2-3-fold with oestrone and testosterone as substrates. 5. Oestrone glucuronyltransferase was inhibited by oestradiol-17 beta, predominantly competitively and by testosterone non-competitively. Bilirubin was a non-competitive inhibitor of oestrone glucuronidation. p-Nitrophenol had no effect. 6. Oestrone glucuronyltransferase could not be stimulated by either acute or prolonged treatment of animals with phenobarbital, whereas a single dose of 3-methylcholanthrene led to a moderate stimulation. 7. Ovariectomy leads to a 56% decrease in oestrone glucuronyltransferase activity; administration of oestradiol-17 beta induces the enzyme to normal activity after 12 days, and after 15 days the activity is twice the control value. Actinomycin D and cycloheximide block the oestradiol-17 beta-induced increase in enzyme activity. 8. Castration has no effect on the activity of testosterone glucuronyltransferase, nor does administration of testosterone influence enzyme activity. The results provide strong evidence for the existence of multiple steroid glucuronyltransferases in the liver of the rat.


1949 ◽  
Vol 27e (3) ◽  
pp. 202-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Tuba ◽  
Donald B. Baker ◽  
Max M. Cantor

Castration produces a fall in serum inorganic phosphorus values in adult male rats but not in adult female rats. The alterations of phosphorus levels that occur following castration in male rats and after the injection of some hormones into normal and castrated rats of both sexes may be accounted for by corresponding alterations in metabolic requirements. Neither castration nor hormone injection produces any significant change in serum acid phosphatase activity in male or in female rats. A fall of about 30% to levels approaching values for normal female rats is found in serum alkaline phosphatase of castrated male rats in about eight weeks. There is no change in the enzyme values in castrated females. In those instances where injections of a sex hormone into castrated or normal rats produce alterations in alkaline serum phosphatase values such changes may be accounted for on the basis of altered food intake. The sole exception to this finding is the very marked decrease in the activity of the enzyme produced by progesterone after oestrogen in normal male rats.


1987 ◽  
Vol 252 (2) ◽  
pp. R284-R289 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Murakami ◽  
T. Ono

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or partially purified endogenous pyrogen (EP) was injected intravenously into rats of both sexes to induce fever. In LPS fever, which was easily produced in 24-h dehydrated rats with an intravenous injection of LPS, the female rats showed an attenuated febrile reaction as measured by both the maximum increase of rectal temperature (Tre) and the thermal response index (TI). Although castrated female rats showed the same magnitude of febrile reaction to that in normal female rats, castrated male rats had less of a febrile response than normal male rats. During EP fever, the maximum increase of Tre and TI between the male and female rats was also observed to be different. However, castration of rats of both sexes did not affect the febrile reaction to intravenous injection of EP. Ten-week-old female rats, treated by a subcutaneous injection of testosterone propionate on the 1st day after birth, produced a similar magnitude of febrile reaction to that in the normal male rats that were comparable in age. It is concluded that there are sex-related differences in fever development, due both to EP production and structural sexual differences in the central nervous system pathways regulating fever.


1985 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. K. Pak ◽  
K. W. K. Tsim ◽  
C. H. K. Cheng

ABSTRACT Hepatic microsomal testosterone 5-reductase activity was approximately fourfold higher in adult female rats than in males. This discrepancy was only partly androgen-dependent since gonadectomy of male rats at 68 days of age resulted in only a partial increase of the enzyme activity. This increase was reversible by the administration of testosterone. Similar treatment, however, produced no effect in the female rat, indicating that there is a sex difference in testosterone responsivity. Castration of newborn male rats resulted in a marked increase in the basal enzyme activity. This increase was not affected by treating the adults with testosterone. Giving testosterone to male rats immediately after neonatal gonadectomy, or to newborn female rats, did not produce the male pattern of both the basal enzyme activity and the testosterone responsivity in adulthood. These results suggest that a brief exposure to neonatal androgen is not critical for the expression of the male type of enzyme activity, but that the continuous presence of the male gonads up to and including the pubertal period is essential. Exposure of pubescent female rats to testosterone during the period from 35 to 50 days of age resulted in a significant increase in testosterone sensitivity when tested at 90 days of age, suggesting that pubertal exposure to androgen is important for the expression of testosterone responsivity in adulthood. The sensitivity was potentiated when the animals were ovariectomized before puberty. Furthermore, the enzyme activity in prepubertally ovariectomized female rats was significantly lower than that in adult gonadectomized animals. The decreased level of activity returned to the control value when oestrogen was replaced during puberty, indicating that peripubertal oestrogen exposure is required for maintaining the high level of activity found in adult female rats. The present findings suggest that the pubertal period represents a sensitive phase during which sex hormones act to regulate the sexual differentiation of testosterone 5-reductase activity in the rat. J. Endocr. (1985) 106, 71–79


1978 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
REON SOMANA ◽  
SERMSRI VISESSUWAN ◽  
AYUDHYA SAMRIDTONG ◽  
R. C. HOLLAND

Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Bangkok, Thailand (Received 19 July 1978) Sex hormones have been shown to influence the levels of growth hormone (GH) in rats and mice (Birge, Peake, Mariz & Daughaday, 1967; Callahan, Somana & Srikhao, 1972; Sinha, Selby, Lewis & VanderLaan, 1972). Since treatment of neonatal female rats with androgens changes the pattern of gonadotrophin secretion from the cyclic female type to the non-cyclic male type (Gorski, 1971; Dorner, 1977), it was thought to be of interest to discover whether this treatment alters the pituitary GH content in female rats to levels similar to those found in male rats before and after puberty and whether after neonatal orchidectomy there is a reduction in the pituitary GH content to levels found in normal female rats. Newborn rats of a Fisher strain were divided into four groups: normal male, orchidectomized male and normal


1971 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Wenzel

ABSTRACT With the aid of metenolon-17α-T a tritium-transfer to oestrone in rat liver slices was demonstrated. This tritium-transfer from metenolon17α-T to oestrone yielding tritium-labelled oestradiol had a higher efficiency in male than in female rat liver. Correspondingly in the presence of metenolon the relation of oestrone to oestradiol is changed more in male than in female rat liver. Looking for biochemical differences between the anabolic steroid metenolon and testosterone the oxydation at C17 was measured in different organs of the rat using 17α-T-labelled steroids. The highest oxydation rate was found for both steroids in the liver. In the sexual organs of male rats the oxydation rate of testosterone was 50–10 times higher than that of the anabolic steroid. This difference was less in sexual organs of female rats. This result of a greater biochemical difference between both steroids in males than in females leads to the question, whether the dissociation between the anabolic and the androgen effects is higher in males than in females.


1998 ◽  
Vol 335 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. SHERRATT ◽  
Margaret M. MANSON ◽  
Anne M. THOMSON ◽  
Erna A. M. HISSINK ◽  
Gordon E. NEAL ◽  
...  

A characteristic feature of the class Theta glutathione S-transferase (GST) T1-1 is its ability to activate dichloromethane and dibromoethane by catalysing the formation of mutagenic conjugates. The level of the GSTT1 subunit within tissues is an important determinant of susceptibility to the carcinogenic effects of these dihaloalkanes. In the present study it is demonstrated that hepatic GST activity towards these compounds can be elevated significantly in female and male Fischer-344 rats by feeding these animals on diets supplemented with cancer chemopreventive agents. Immunoblotting experiments showed that increased activity towards the dihaloalkanes is associated with elevated levels of the GSTT1 subunit in rat liver. Sex-specific effects were observed in the induction of GSTT1 protein. Amongst the chemopreventive agents tested, indole-3-carbinol proved to be the most potent inducer of hepatic GSTT1 in male rats (6.2-fold), whereas coumarin was the most potent inducer of this subunit in the livers of female rats (3.5-fold). Phenobarbital showed significant induction of GSTT1 only in male rat liver and had little effect in female rat liver. Western blotting showed that class Alpha, Mu and Pi GST subunits are not co-ordinately induced with GSTT1, indicating that the expression of GSTT1 is determined, at least in part, by mechanisms distinct from those that regulate levels of other transferases. The increase in amount of hepatic GSTT1 protein was also reflected by an increase in the steady-state level of mRNA in response to treatment with chemopreventive agents and model inducers. Immunohistochemical detection of GSTT1 in rat liver supported the Western blotting data, but showed, in addition to cytoplasmic staining, significant nuclear localization of the enzyme in hepatocytes from some treated animals, including those fed on an oltipraz-containing diet. Significantly, the hepatic level of cytochrome P-450 2E1, an enzyme which offers a detoxification pathway for dihaloalkanes, was unchanged by the various inducing agents studied. It is concluded that the induction of GSTT1 by dietary components and its localization within cells are important factors that should be considered when assessing the risk dihaloalkanes pose to human health.


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