Discordant regulation by luteinizing hormone of ornithine decarboxylase activity and testosterone production in isolated rat testicular cells in vitro.

Possible functional relationship between luteinizing hormone-stimulated ornithine decarboxylase and testosterone production was examined in rat testicular interstitial cells in vitro. Although luteinizing hormone enhanced both ornithine decarboxylase activity and testosterone production at a similar physiological dose range, we found dissociation in the two responses in terms of their temporal aspect and the way they were affected by an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, alpha-difluoromethylornithine, and protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. The results suggest that there appears to be no causal coupling between luteinizing hormone-stimulated enzyme activity and testicular steroidogenesis.