Abstract
Male newborns are at a 2-fold greater risk of Respiratory Distress Syndrome than females. This risk is associated with delayed production of saturated phosphatidylcholine (SPC) in male human, rabbit, and rat fetuses. DHT administration to rabbit fetuses inhibits the production of SPC in an organ-specific manner and the anti-androgen Flutamide negates the native sex difference in SPC production. In the present study DHT was administered to pregnant rabbit does at 1 mg/kg from day 12 to day 27 of gestation daily and the fetuses were sacrificed on day 28. The fetal lungs were incubated with 3H-choline chloride (10μci) for 1 hour and subsequently analyzed for radiolabelled PC and SPC content.
Male and female control lungs synthesized comparable amounts of both PC and SPC. DHT had no measurable effect on either PC or SPC synthesis by female lungs, or on PC synthesis by male lungs. However, DHT did have a significant inhibitory effect on SPC synthesis by male lungs. These data suggest that DHT inhibits the synthesis of pulmonary surfactant in a sex-specific fashion under these experimental conditions. The mechanism underlying this inhibition is currently under investigation. (Supported by NIH Grant #HL28315-02).
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Torday, J. DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE (DHT) INHIBITS SYNTHESIS OF SATURATED PHOSPHATIDYLCHONE. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 146 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00321
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00321