Hatier R, Malaprade-Baudoin D, Grignon G
Laboratoire d'Histologie-Embryologie, Faculté de Médecine, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
Arch Androl. 1994 Jul-Aug;33(1):31-8. doi: 10.3109/01485019408987800.
The aim of the present study was to follow the gamma-GT activity changes in the rat epididymis after withdrawal of androgens. Treatment of adult rats with the LHRH agonist D-Trp 6-LHRH led to reduce serum testosterone concentrations below the limit of detection of the assay. In the treated rats, specific activity of gamma-GT (nmol/min mg protein-1) drastically decreased in caput epididymidis. Histochemical reactions for gamma-GT completely disappeared in the initial and proximal segments but weak activity remained on the luminal plasma membranes of middle segment of the caput. In the corpus and cauda epididymidis, residual reaction for gamma-GT could be seen on the basal part of epithelial cells and on peritubular cells: Thus gamma-GT is confirmed to be androgen-dependent, but there is a regional responsiveness to withdrawal of androgen in the epididymis.
