The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical UniversityWenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Reproduction. 2017 Oct;154(4):R111-R122. doi: 10.1530/REP-17-0064. Epub 2017 Jul 26.
Serum testosterone (TS) levels decrease with aging in both humans and rodents. Using the rat as a model system, it was found that age-related reductions in serum TS were not due to loss of Leydig cells, but rather to the reduced ability of the Leydig cells to produce TS in response to luteinizing hormone (LH). Detailed analyses of the steroidogenic pathway have suggested that two defects along the pathway, LH-stimulated cAMP production and cholesterol transport to and into the mitochondria, are of particular importance in age-related reductions in TS production. Although the mechanisms involved in these defects are far from certain, increasing oxidative stress appears to play a particularly important role. Interestingly, increased oxidative stress also appears to be involved in the suppressive effects of endocrine disruptors on Leydig cell TS production.
血清睾酮（TS）水平在人类和啮齿动物中都会随着年龄的增长而降低。利用大鼠作为模型系统，发现与年龄相关的血清 TS 减少不是由于莱迪希细胞的丧失，而是由于莱迪希细胞产生 TS 对促黄体激素（LH）的反应能力降低。对甾体生成途径的详细分析表明，该途径中的两个缺陷，即 LH 刺激的 cAMP 产生和胆固醇向线粒体的转运和进入，在与年龄相关的 TS 产生减少中尤为重要。尽管这些缺陷涉及的机制还远未确定，但增加氧化应激似乎起着特别重要的作用。有趣的是，增加的氧化应激似乎也参与了内分泌干扰物对睾丸间质细胞 TS 产生的抑制作用。
