Awoniyi C A, Santulli R, Chandrashekar V, Schanbacher B D, Zirkin B R
Department of Population Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.
Endocrinology. 1989 Sep;125(3):1303-9. doi: 10.1210/endo-125-3-1303.
The ability of testosterone to quantitatively restore spermatogenesis in rats made azoospermic by active immunization against LH or GnRH was examined. Sexually mature adult male rats (n = 15/group) were actively immunized against ovine LH or GnRH-human serum globulin conjugate, while control rats (n = 10) were injected with saline. After 10 weeks of immunization, five rats per group were euthanized. For each rat, trunk blood was collected for determination of LH, FSH, and testosterone by RIA; seminiferous tubule fluid (STF) was collected from one testis per rat, and testosterone concentration was measured by RIA; the number of advanced spermatids per testis was determined from the contralateral testis. The results obtained after 10 weeks of treatment were as follows. 1) Serum LH and FSH were undetectable by RIA in GnRH-immunized rats. 2) Serum testosterone was undetectable in both the LH- and GnRH-immunized groups. 3) The testosterone concentration in STF (STF-T) was reduced from the control value of about 64 ng/ml to about 2 ng/ml in the LH- and GnRH-immunized rats. 4) LH- and GnRH-immunized rats were azoospermic. After the initial 10-week treatment period, five rats in each of the LH- and GnRH-immunized groups received 24-cm testosterone-filled polydimethylsiloxane (PDS-T) capsules (3 x 8 cm long) sc. The remaining immunized rats (n = 5/group) received empty capsules. Two months later, all rats were euthanized. Testis weights, serum testosterone, and STF-T concentrations remained significantly reduced in LH- and GnRH-immunized rats that did not receive testosterone supplementation, and the rats remained azoospermic. STF-T concentrations rose significantly (P less than 0.05) in the LH- and GnRH-immunized rats that received PDS-T, but were still significantly less (by approximately 80%) than the concentration in intact controls. Nonetheless, implantation of PDS-T caused restoration of advanced spermatogenic cells in the testes of both LH- and GnRH-immunized rats to numbers that were not significantly different from the number in controls. These data indicate that 1) testosterone is capable of quantitatively restoring spermatogenesis in rats actively immunized against LH or GnRH, suggesting that FSH may not be required for the restoration of spermatogenesis in adult rats; and 2) quantitatively complete restoration of spermatogenesis can occur at STF-T concentrations that are significantly reduced compared to those in intact controls.
研究了睾酮对通过主动免疫抗促黄体生成素（LH）或促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）而导致无精子症的大鼠的精子发生进行定量恢复的能力。将性成熟的成年雄性大鼠（每组n = 15）主动免疫抗绵羊LH或GnRH - 人血清球蛋白偶联物，而对照大鼠（n = 10）注射生理盐水。免疫10周后，每组处死5只大鼠。对于每只大鼠，采集躯干血，通过放射免疫分析（RIA）测定LH、促卵泡生成素（FSH）和睾酮；从每只大鼠的一个睾丸收集生精小管液（STF），并通过RIA测量睾酮浓度；从对侧睾丸确定每个睾丸中晚期精子细胞的数量。治疗10周后获得的结果如下。1）GnRH免疫的大鼠中，RIA检测不到血清LH和FSH。2）LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组的血清睾酮均检测不到。3）LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组大鼠的STF中的睾酮浓度（STF - T）从对照值约64 ng/ml降至约2 ng/ml。4）LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组的大鼠无精子。在最初10周的治疗期后，LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组中的每组5只大鼠皮下植入24厘米含睾酮的聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDS - T）胶囊（3×8厘米长）。其余免疫大鼠（每组n = 5）接受空胶囊。两个月后，所有大鼠均被处死。未接受睾酮补充的LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组大鼠的睾丸重量、血清睾酮和STF - T浓度仍显著降低，且大鼠仍无精子。接受PDS - T的LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组大鼠的STF - T浓度显著升高（P < 0.05），但仍比完整对照组的浓度显著低（约80%）。尽管如此，植入PDS - T使LH免疫组和GnRH免疫组大鼠睾丸中的晚期生精细胞恢复到与对照组数量无显著差异的水平。这些数据表明：1）睾酮能够对主动免疫抗LH或GnRH的大鼠的精子发生进行定量恢复，这表明成年大鼠精子发生的恢复可能不需要FSH；2）与完整对照组相比，在STF - T浓度显著降低的情况下，精子发生可以进行定量完全恢复。
