Capillary blood flow in the tests and testosterone secretion in the starved rat.

The average capillary blood flow in the testes was found to be 181 microliter/min/g testis tissue (n = 19) in rats starved for 5 days and 273 microliter/min/g (n = 18, p less than 0.01) in the control group. Plasma testosterone was significantly decreased in the starved animals (1.00 +/- 0.06 ng/ml vs 5.43 +/- 0.63 ng/ml). When starved and control rats were stimulated with human chorion gonadotropin, testosterone values in plasma were greatly increased in both groups. The capillary blood flow was not altered. The date indicate that human chorion gonadotropin can stimulate testosterone production in the starved rat without influencing the reduced capillary blood flow.