Autoregulation of testicular luteinizing hormone receptors in hypogonadal (hpg/hpg) mice

✍ Scribed by A. Amador; T. Parkening; W. Beamer; A. Bartke; T. J. Collins

• Book ID: 104784026
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 375 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-2928
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00484511

✦ Synopsis

The autoregulation of testicular luteinizing hormone (LH) receptors was studied in hypogonadal (hpg/hpg) and normal mice. The basal concentration of LH receptors was more than three-fold higher in hpg/hpg than in normal mice. After injection of hCG, hpg/hpg mice showed a decrease in LH receptor levels which was not observed in normal mice. Plasma testosterone was undetectable in hpg/hpg mice, even after treatment with a single dose of hCG. Plasma prolactin levels were higher in hpg/hpg than in normal mice. The increase in basal LH receptor levels is thought to be due to a compensatory mechanism in which elevated prolactin could play a role. The differences between hpg/hpg and normal mice in the autoregulation of LH receptors observed could be due to the "'hypersensitivity'of the physiologically immature testis in hpg/hpg mice to the action of hCG, to gonadotropin deficiency, particularly during the earlier stages of development, or to a direct effect of the hpg locus on the metabolism of LH receptors.