An androgen receptor in rat brain and pituitary.

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) binding was measured in cytosols from brain regions and pituitary of adult female rats and, with the addition of ventral prostate, in adult male rats. Two types of binding were distinguished: one, saturable at concentration of DHT greater than or equal to 5 X 10(-9) M and an unsaturable component. In intact males saturable (limited capacity) binding was detected only in ventral prostate cytosol; 3 days after orchidectomy the saturable binding sites increase 3-fold in prostate and in pituitary, hypothalamus, amygdala and cortex to detectable levels in approximately the same abundance as in females. There were significant differences in the affinities of the limited capacity binding reactions in cytosols of different tissues though all were in the order of magnitude, 10(-9) M DHT. The affinity in pituitary cytosol was lower than in brain regions with the single exception of female amygdala in which the affinity was significantly lower than in cytosol of the same region from 3-day castrate males. The specificity of the limited capacity binding was investigated by competition between [3h]DHT and unlabelled steroids; the most effective competitors were potent androgen agonists and antagonists.