Changes in testicular cholesterol associated with estrogen induced infertility in male mice

✍ Scribed by Simmons, J. Emmett

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1969
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 345 KB
• Volume: 170
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1401700314

✦ Synopsis

Male mice were injected on the fifth postnatal day with 50 pg of estradiol undecylate and the changes in morphology and testis cholesterol were studied at 10, 20, 40, 60 and 90 days. Such treatment resulted in decreased body weight, atrophic testes and seminal vesicles, adrenal and pituitary hypertrophy, failure of scrota1 development with cryptorchidism, impaired spermatogenesis, and alopecia. The onset of these changes, however, occurred at different ages. Testicular atrophy was manifest as early as day 20, while seminal vesicle atrophy and adrenal hypertrs phy were not apparent until day 40, and a decreased body weight and alopecia were observed by day 60. Pituitary hypertrophy was observed at only day 90.

There were no significant differences in total testicular cholesterol between estrogenized and control mice at ten days. However, at all other stages studied experimental animals had significantly more cholesterol than their oil injected controls. This increase in cholesterol within the testes of estrogenized mice is interpreted as decreased utilization of cholesterol for steroidogenesis. That there was a lack of endogenous androgen in these estrogenized mice as late as 90 days was indicated by atrophic seminal vesicles and the presence of an x-zone in the adrenal gland.