Abstract
ATROPHY of the interstitial cells and a decrease in testis size occur in the rat after treatment with testosterone propionate1, the response being attributed to the inhibitory action of the androgen on gonadotrophin secretion. The ability of testes to respond to gonadotrophic hormones is dependent in some way, however, on the sympathetic nervous system2,3. Increased concentrations of androgens in spermatic vein blood4 and peripheral plasma5 immediately after copulation imply a neuroendocrine process for Leydig cell secretion. Some of the accessory glands, which are target organs of androgens, atrophy in non-copulating male rats6,7, but they may be stimulated with pilocarpine nitrate, a drug that produces cholinergic and concomitant triggering of certain adrenergic secretions8. This experiment was designed to study both the effects and possible relationships of alterations in male reproductive glands produced by testosterone propionate, pilocarpine nitrate and copulation.
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HUNT, W. Responses of Rat Testes and Accessory Glands to Testosterone, Pilocarpine and Copulation. Nature 221, 669–670 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/221669a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/221669a0
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