Effects of trenbolone acetate and testosterone on growth and on plasma concentrations of corticosterone and ACTH in rats

1990 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. N. Sillence ◽  
R. G. Rodway

ABSTRACT The effects of trenbolone acetate (TBA) on growth and on plasma concentrations of corticosterone were examined in male and female rats. At 5 weeks of age, rats were injected with TBA (0·8 mg/kg) dissolved in peanut oil, or with oil alone, daily for 10 days. In female rats, TBA caused an increase in weight gain (20–38%), a reduction in adrenal weight (19%) and a reduction in plasma concentrations of corticosterone (55%). In contrast, TBA-treated male rats showed no significant increase in weight gain, no significant change in adrenal weight and no reduction in plasma concentrations of corticosterone. The mechanism by which adrenal activity was suppressed in TBA-treated female rats was examined and the response compared with that to testosterone. Female rats (8 weeks old) were injected daily either with oil vehicle, TBA (0·8 mg/kg) or testosterone propionate (0·8 mg/kg). Testosterone increased weight gain (24%), but the growth response to TBA treatment was significantly greater (97%). A reduction in plasma concentrations of corticosterone (45%) was again observed in response to TBA. However, testosterone increased plasma concentrations of corticosterone (52%) above those of control values. Neither androgen affected plasma concentrations of ACTH. Finally, the effects of TBA were examined in 6-week-old female rats, to characterize further the apparent age-related increase in responsiveness. The growth response of 6-week-old rats (60–74%) was intermediate between that seen in 5- and 8-week-old animals. It is concluded that part of the anabolic activity of TBA may be related to a reduction in circulating concentrations of corticosterone. The effect of TBA on corticosterone concentrations differs from that of the natural androgen, testosterone, and does not appear to be mediated by a reduction in plasma concentrations of ACTH. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 126, 461–466

1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (2) ◽  
pp. R398-R405 ◽  
Author(s):  
James B. Young ◽  
Yasunobu Shimano

Thermoregulatory mechanisms are influenced by the temperature of the postnatal environment. Animals reared in cool environments are more tolerant of cold as adults, whereas those reared in warm conditions are more tolerant of heat. Because diet-induced and thermoregulatory thermogenesis share common features, studies examined the impact of rearing temperature on weight gain and fat accumulation. Rats reared at 18°C gained more weight and accumulated more fat in abdominal depots than animals reared at 30°C when both were housed at a common temperature, responses that were exacerbated by ad libitum access to sucrose. Male rats reared at 30°C were less affected by sucrose than 18°C-reared males, whereas female rats reared at 18 or 30°C were similarly susceptible. During exposure to 18°C, fat accumulation in abdominal depots increased in males but decreased in females. These data suggest that early temperature exposure influences weight gain and fat accumulation in later life, a difference that is most apparent when animals are housed at a common temperature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 318 (3) ◽  
pp. R567-R578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Quirós Cognuck ◽  
Wagner L. Reis ◽  
Marcia S. Silva ◽  
Gislaine Almeida-Pereira ◽  
Lucas K. Debarba ◽  
...  

Maintenance of the volume and osmolality of body fluids is important, and the adaptive responses recruited to protect against osmotic stress are crucial for survival. The objective of this work was to compare the responses that occur in aging male and female rats during water deprivation. For this purpose, groups of male and female Wistar rats aged 3 mo (adults) or 18 mo (old) were submitted to water deprivation (WD) for 48 h. The water and sodium (0.15 M NaCl) intake, plasma concentrations of oxytocin (OT), arginine vasopressin (AVP), corticosterone (CORT), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), and angiotensin II (ANG II) were determined in hydrated and water-deprived animals. In response to WD, old male and female rats drank less water and saline than adults, and both adult and old females drank more water and saline than respective males. Dehydrated old animals displayed lower ANG II plasma concentration and CORT response compared with the respective normohydrated rats. Dehydrated adult males had higher plasma ANP and AVP as well as lower CORT concentrations than dehydrated adult females. Moreover, plasma OT and CORT levels of old female rats were higher than those in the dehydrated old male rats. Relative expression of ANG II type 1 receptor mRNA was decreased in the subfornical organ of adult and old male rats as well as adult female rats in response to WD. In conclusion, the study elucidated the effect of sex and age on responses induced by WD, altering the degree of dehydration induced by 48 h of WD.


2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy E. Ward ◽  
Susie Kim ◽  
W. Robert Bruce

Evidence from epidemiological and animal-feeding trials suggests that a western-style diet that is high in fat, and low in Ca, vitamin D and folic acid may result in low bone mass and poor bone quality: this leads to an increased risk of fragility fracture. The overall objective of the present study was to determine the effect of feeding a western-style diet (low in Ca (0·4 g/kg diet, Ca:P ratio 1:10), cholecalciferol (3 μg/kg diet), folic acid (0·23 mg/kg diet) and fibre (20 g/kg diet), and high in fat (200 g/kg diet)) for 17 weeks on bone mineral content (BMC) and the biomechanical bone strength of rat femurs. A secondary objective was to determine whether femurs from male and female rats (seven to eight rats per group) respond differently to the western-style diet. Male and female rats weighing 150–180 g were fed a western-style diet or a control diet for 17 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, femur BMC was measured by ashing, and biomechanical properties were determined by three-point bending. Femur BMC and the majority of biomechanical properties measured were lower (P<0·05) among male and female rats fed a western-style diet compared with a control diet, despite similar weight gain and final body weight within genders. However, the western-style diet had a greater negative effect on femur BMC and biomechanical strength properties among male rats compared with females. This may be because male rats experienced greater overall body growth, as assessed by weight gain, than female rats, and suggests that the nutrient composition of the western-style diet did not support the development of strong femurs.


1989 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Hamada ◽  
G. Watanabe ◽  
T. Kokuho ◽  
K. Taya ◽  
S. Sasamoto ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the determination of inhibin in peripheral plasma and tissue homogenates of different species has been developed using antisera to partially purified bovine follicular fluid (bFF) inhibin and 125I-labelled bFF 32 kDa inhibin. Antisera were produced by immunization of rabbits with partially purified bFF inhibin prepared by immunoaffinity chromatography. Increasing doses of a high titre antiserum could neutralize the suppressing effect of bFF, porcine follicular fluid and rat ovarian homogenate on FSH secretion from rat anterior pituitary cells in culture. Sensitivity of the assay was 3·1 ng International Research Standard of porcine inhibin per tube. Parallel inhibition curves were obtained for inhibin preparations from female and male animals of ten species, i.e. cattle, goats, sheep, cats, dogs, monkeys, pigs, horses, rats and man. Inhibin subunits and related proteins cross-reacted minimally with the antiserum used in the study. Plasma concentrations of inhibin in adult male and female rats were measured by the RIA before and at various times after gonadectomy. Inhibin levels in peripheral plasma before gonadectomy were significantly higher in adult female than in adult male rats. Inhibin levels decreased abruptly after gonadectomy in both sexes and they correlated negatively with plasma concentrations of FSH. This inhibin RIA will facilitate studies of the physiology of inhibin in various species of animals. Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 122, 697–704


2005 ◽  
Vol 184 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy T Smith ◽  
Peter J Mark ◽  
Brendan J Waddell

Leptin’s actions are mediated via the long form of its receptor, Ob-Rb, but access to this receptor on target cells is also influenced by truncated leptin receptor isoforms Ob-Ra and Ob-Re. Plasma leptin binding activity is primarily attributed to Ob-Re, which can restrict leptin passage to extravascular tissue. In this study we investigated whether plasma leptin binding activity changes from fetal to adult life in male and female rats, and whether tissue expression of Ob-Re mRNA changes during development. Plasma leptin binding activity was low in the fetus and prepubertal rats but then increased in male rats by more than three-fold from pre- to post-puberty and by a further two-fold by 7 months of age. A more modest increase in plasma leptin binding activity was observed in females such that a clear sex difference became evident after puberty. There was also a reduction in hypothalamic Ob-Rb protein content between puberty and adult life in female rats. Combined with the higher levels of plasma leptin binding activity, this change in hypothalamic Ob-Rb expression is likely to lead to a more leptin-resistant state in aging females. To assess possible sources of circulating leptin binding activity, Ob-Re mRNA expression was measured by quantitative RT-PCR in several tissues from male rats soon after puberty and at 7 months of age. All tissues examined (testis, epididymis, adrenal, liver, adipose and spleen) expressed Ob-Re mRNA, and there was a dramatic, age-related increase in expression (> 300-fold) in the spleen. These data show that, in addition to the developmental increase in hypothalamic Ob-Rb expression previously reported, plasma leptin binding activity increases several fold from fetal to adult life in the rat. This suggests that the actions of leptin depend not only on its synthesis in adipose tissue and Ob-Rb expression in target cells, but also on factors that regulate tissue expression of Ob-Re and thus leptin transport within plasma.


Endocrinology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Viau ◽  
Brenda Bingham ◽  
Jennifer Davis ◽  
Patricia Lee ◽  
Margaret Wong

Individual variations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function are most evident at or beyond the time of puberty, when marked changes in sex steroid release occur. To explore the nature by which gender differences in HPA function emerge we examined in prepubertal (∼30-d-old) and postpubertal (∼60-d-old) male and female rats HPA activity under basal conditions and in response to 30 min of restraint. Within the ACTH-regulating, medial parvocellular portion of the paraventricular nucleus, restraint-induced Fos protein and arginine vasopressin heteronuclear RNA were lower in 60- than in 30-d-old males. No such age-related shift in the response of these synaptic and transcriptional markers of cellular activation occurred in female rats. Basal CRH mRNA expression levels in the paraventricular nucleus increased with age in female but not male rats. Conversely, only male rats showed an age-related increase in basal CRH mRNA in the central amygdala, suggesting that neuronal and neurosecretory CRH-expressing cell types are subject to different pubertal and gender influences. We conclude that gonadal regulation of the HPA axis develops via distinct mechanisms in males and females. Puberty-related shifts in parvocellular neurosecretory function in males are emphasized by stress-induced shifts in neuronal activation, whereas biosynthetic alterations dominate in female rats.


2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (2) ◽  
pp. H659-H670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Howlett

We evaluated effects of age on components of excitation-contraction (EC) coupling in ventricular myocytes from male and female rats to examine sex differences in mechanisms responsible for age-related contractile dysfunction. Myocytes were isolated from anesthetized young adult (∼3 mo) and aged (∼24 mo) Fischer 344 rats. Ca2+ concentrations and contractions were measured simultaneously (37°C, 2 Hz). Fractional shortening declined with age in males (6.7 ± 0.6% to 2.4 ± 0.4%; P < 0.05), as did peak Ca2+ transients (47.7 ± 4.6 to 28.1 ± 2.1 nM; P < 0.05) and Ca2+ current densities (−7.7 ± 0.7 to −6.2 ± 0.5 pA/pF; P < 0.05). Although sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ content was similar regardless of age in males, EC coupling gain declined significantly with age to 55.8 ± 7.8% of values in younger males. In contrast with results in males, contraction and Ca2+ transient amplitudes were unaffected by age in females. Ca2+ current density declined with age in females (−7.5 ± 0.5 to −5.1 ± 0.7 pA/pF; P < 0.05), but SR Ca2+ content actually increased dramatically (49.0 ± 7.5 to 147.3 ± 28.5 nM; P < 0.05). Even so, EC coupling gain was not affected by age in female myocytes. Age also promoted hypertrophy of male myocytes more than female myocytes. Age and sex differences in EC coupling were largely maintained when conditioning pulse frequency was increased to 4 Hz. Contractions, Ca2+ transients, and EC coupling gain were also smaller in young females than in young males. Thus age-dependent changes are more prominent in myocytes from males than females. Increased SR Ca2+ content may compensate for reduced Ca2+ current to preserve contractile function in aged females, which may limit the detrimental effects of age on cardiac contractile function.


1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (4) ◽  
pp. R1441-R1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil E. Rowland ◽  
Annie Morien ◽  
Mircea Garcea ◽  
Melvin J. Fregly

The capacity of aging rats to defend body fluid homeostasis in response to a variety of dipsogenic and natriorexigenic stimuli was assessed. Male and female rats of both the Fischer 344 (FR) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) strains were used and tested at target ages of ∼5, 10, 15, and 20 mo in both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. There were no consistent age-related declines in water intake in response to water deprivation or acute administration of hypertonic NaCl; angiotensin (ANG) I, II, III; or isoproterenol. Likewise, there were no major impairments in either urinary excretion of the hypertonic NaCl load or excretion of water or hypotonic NaCl loads, although the latter were excreted more slowly in the older cohorts. The preference/aversion functions for NaCl solutions differed between SD and FR rats, but did not change with age except in male FR rats that lost their aversion to dilute NaCl at 20 mo of age. Intake of hypotonic NaCl solution after acute sodium depletion (furosemide treatment) showed a partial decline with age, and the older rats sustained larger estimated sodium deficits after a 6-h repletion period. A more complete age-related decline was observed in the intake of hypertonic NaCl stimulated by chronic dietary administration of a kininase II inhibitor (ramipril). Male rats of 15–20 mo of age showed no ramipril-induced sodium appetite. Brain ANG II receptor density, determined by autoradiography, declined by almost 50% in the paraventricular nucleus at 20 mo of age and declined slightly in the organum vasculosum laminae terminalis but did not decline in either the supraoptic nucleus or subfornical organ. Thus the major deficits in fluid intake in aging rats are related to salt appetite; the mechanism was not identified definitively.


2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 1372-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Passmore ◽  
John T. Fleming ◽  
Suresh C. Tyagi ◽  
Jeff C. Falcone

Male rat renal blood vessels undergo reduced contraction to norepinephrine with aging. There is a greater renal vascular impairment in male compared with female rats. We investigated specific tyrosine kinase receptor inhibition of renal interlobar artery responsiveness to phenylephrine in male and female rats at specifically designated ages. Vessels from young male rats contracted much less to phenylephrine when the vessels were pretreated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors Lavendustin A, HNMPA-(AM)3, or AG1478. Vessels from adult female rats pretreated with Lavendustin A showed no difference in contraction from control, but did demonstrate a slightly reduced contraction when pretreated with AG1478. Middle-aged male rat vessels treated with Lavendustin A demonstrated no inhibition, but the insulin and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antagonists both induced a decline in contraction. Vessels from aged male rats demonstrated no effect related to the 3 pretreatments. Middle-aged and aged female rats pretreated with any inhibitor demonstrated no inhibitor-dependent alterations. We conclude that maximum contraction of interlobar arteries from adult male rats is reduced when tyrosine kinase receptor activity is reduced. Female rats demonstrated much less inhibitor-related change of contraction.


1976 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. AIYER ◽  
M. C. SOOD ◽  
K. BROWN-GRANT

SUMMARY Rats gonadectomized 1–2 months previously were anaesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone and 50 ng/100 g body weight of a synthetic decapeptide gonadotrophin releasing factor (LH-RF) injected intravenously. Plasma concentrations of LH and FSH were determined by radioimmunoassay in samples taken before and at intervals up to 60 min after the injection of LH-RF. The pituitary response was evaluated by determining the maximal increment in plasma gonadotrophin concentrations and by estimating the area under the plasma gonadotrophin concentration curves. In both males and females the pituitary response was increased in animals given 20 μg oestradiol benzoate 3 days earlier. Progesterone (2·5 mg) had no effect on the response measured 4 h later in oil-treated rats, male or female. In oestrogen-primed rats progesterone administration produced a significantly increased response in females that was not seen if sodium pentobarbitone was given at the time of progesterone injection. In oestrogen-primed males progesterone produced some increase in sensitivity but less than was seen in females. Both in males and in females that had received androgen on day 4 of postnatal life sodium, pentobarbitone had no effect on the responses of oestrogen plus progesterone-treated rats to LH-RF. When two injections of LH-RF were given 60 min apart, the second response was greater than the first in animals, both male and female, that had been primed with oestrogen. The second response was no greater than the first in oil-treated females. The results suggest that oestrogen can increase pituitary sensitivity to LH-RF in both male and female rats and that LH-RF itself can increase pituitary sensitivity to a second injection of LH-RF in both male and female rats if they have received oestrogen. It is suggested that the differences between the pituitary responses of females and males after oestrogen plus progesterone treatment and the major differences in gonadotrophin secretion reported previously (Brown-Grant, 1974) may be accounted for on the basis of there being a relatively slight increase in endogenous LH-RF secretion with a consequent marked rise in pituitary responsiveness in female but not in male rats.


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