Testosterone metabolism in male rat epiphysis.

Using radioactive substrate, thin-layer chromatography and recrystallization methods as well as differential centrifugation, gel filtration and electrophoresis, testosterone metabolism was investigated in male rat epiphyseal growth plate. 5alpha-androstane 3alpha-17beta-diol was found to be a major metabolite in vitro; lesser amounts of androstenedione and androstanedione, and a very small amount of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone were also identified. Radioactivity was recovered in epiphyseal subcellular fractions 30 minutes following in vivo administration of tritiated 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone; within 2 hours radioactivity had fallen to essentially background level in all fractions but the cytosol. A testosterone binding protein could not be identified within epiphyseal cytosol.