Effects of an antiandrogen, cyproterone acetate, on the kidney of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.).

The fine structure of the kidney is studied in the sexually mature male three-spined stickleback after administration of an antiandrogen, cyproterone acetate. Under these conditions, the dedifferentiation of renal tubules is characterized by the same involutive processes as those induced by castration, with the difference that cyproterone acetate only begins to act after 14 days whereas after castration the first signs of involution are visible after 7 days. The ultrastructural modifications affect the nucleoli, the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. They reflect an inhibition of the secretory process. The results obtained demonstrate that administration of cyproterone acetate to male sticklebacks has an inhibitory effect on renal target cells, apparently indistinguishable from the changes induced by lack of male sex hormone, and that this drug may be a valid substitute for castration in fish.