Balthazart J, Ottinger M A
J Endocrinol. 1984 Jul;102(1):77-81. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.1020077.
Testosterone metabolism was studied by an in-vitro technique in the brain and cloacal gland of young male and female quail at different ages ranging from 7 days of incubation to 2 days after hatching. Very active metabolism, leading almost exclusively to the production of 5 beta-reduced compounds, was observed. 5 beta-Reductase activity remained high throughout the incubation period in the hypothalamus, decreased around the time of hatching in the cerebellum and decreased progressively between days 7 and 15 of incubation in the cloacal gland. These changes could be involved in the control of sexual differentiation: the high 5 beta-reductase in the brain possibly protects males from being behaviourally demasculinized by their endogenous testosterone while the decreasing 5 beta-reductase in the cloacal gland would progressively permit the masculinization of that structure.
采用体外技术，对孵化7天至孵化后2天不同年龄段的雄性和雌性幼鹌鹑的大脑和泄殖腔腺中的睾酮代谢进行了研究。观察到非常活跃的代谢，几乎专门导致5β-还原化合物的产生。在下丘脑中，5β-还原酶活性在整个孵化期都保持较高水平，在小脑孵化时左右下降，在泄殖腔腺中，在孵化第7天至第15天之间逐渐下降。这些变化可能参与了性别分化的控制：大脑中高活性的5β-还原酶可能保护雄性不被其体内睾酮导致行为去雄化，而泄殖腔腺中5β-还原酶活性的降低将逐渐允许该结构的雄性化。
