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UPTAKE IN VIVO OF [³H]TESTOSTERONE BY THE INTERSTITIAL COMPARTMENT IN TESTES OF NORMAL ADULT MICE

Department of Anatomy, University of Louisville, School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40201, U.S.A.

(Received 28th June 1974)

Although it is generally agreed that the Leydig cells are the predominant siteof biosynthesis of testosterone, it has been suggested that androgen actionupon these cells may be required for the maintenance of their steroid synthesizing enzymes (Blackburn, Chung, Bullock & Bardin, 1973). Parvinen, Hurme & Niem (1970) have shown that labelled testosterone, pregnenolone and progesterone administered intravenously can penetrate into the seminiferous tubules of rats within 2 to 5 min, but the radioactivity in the tubules was always significantly lower than in the interstitial tissue. Van Doom, de Bruyn, Galjaard & van der Molen (1974) noted that [³H]testosterone administered intravenously with Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution resulted primarily in interstitial localization for periods up to 1 hr in rabbits, but the delayed penetration into the tubules was not seen when the androgen was administered