Is the 5 alpha-reductase of the hypothalamus and of the anterior pituitary neurally regulated? Effects of hypothalamic deafferentations and of centrally acting drugs.

The following experiments have been performed in order to verify whether the conversion of testosterone into its 5 alpha-reduced metabolites, 5 alpha-androstane-17 beta-ol-3-one (DHT), 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol (3 alpha-diol) and 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta,17 beta-diol (3 beta-diol), in the hypothalamus and in the anterior pituitary is controlled by neural stimuli. Long-term castrated male rats have been submitted to anterior and total deafferentations of the hypothalamus and to the administration of the following centrally acting drugs: reserpine, p-chlorophenylalanine pCPA and atropine sulphate. The possible involvement of the central opioid system has also been investigated utilizing morphine and naloxone. Neither hypothalamic deafferentations, nor the treatment with reserpine, pCPA, atropine, morphine or naloxone produce any significant modification in the metabolism of testosterone in the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic deafferentations and treatments with reserpine, morphine and naloxone are also ineffective in changing the pattern of testosterone metabolism in the anterior pituitary. On the contrary, atropine and pCPA seem to affect the conversion of testosterone in the gland, both drugs producing an increased formation of DHT and 3 alpha-diol but not of 3 beta-diol. It is concluded that the 5 alpha-reductase-3-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase system of the hypothalamus does not appear to be controlled either neurally by inputs coming from other brain structures, or by variations of the neurotransmitter content in the hypothalamus itself. Serotonin and acetylcholine seem to participate in the control of testosterone metabolism at pituitary level, even if it is not clear whether their action takes place directly on the gland, or is mediated through some hypothalamic factor(s). Moreover, it does not appear that brain opioids are involved in the control of the enzymatic complex under consideration either in the hypothalamus or in the anterior pituitary.