Ontogeny of testosterone production from immature mouse testes in vitro.

A dynamic superfusion system was developed to study the ontogeny of testosterone production from immature mouse testes. Testes obtained from 6-day, 12-day and 18-day old mice superfused in vitro. Their basal testosterone productivity were match to their in vivo chronic age. Superfused testes responded to pulsatile stimulation of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) for 42 days. Pulsatile HCG stimulation significantly enhanced testosterone production than bolus stimulation. Pulsatile FSH stimulation could significantly increase the testosterone production. Elevation of fluid pressure in culture chamber showed increase testosterone production but it was not significantly different.