EFFECT OF TESTOSTERONE ON THE EXCRETION OF GLYCOGENIC CORTICOIDS

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Abstract
ANIMAL experimentation by numerous investigators has shown that the administration of testosterone to intact rats has a definite effect on the anterior pituitary as well as on other glands of internal secretion such as the adrenal, the thyroid, the testes and the ovary (5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17). In rats testosterone propionate will cause atrophyof the pituitary gland and involution of the adrenal gland; the latter occurring more readily in female rats than in males (6,10). Reifenstein and co-workers (8) have reported that the administration of methyl testosterone to humans will cause a decrease in the excretion of 17-ketosteroids of adrenal origin.It seemed of interest therefore to determine whether testosterone would have an inhibiting effect on other types of adrenal metabolites, particularly those associated with carbohydrate metabolism, namely the glycogenic corticoids. The present paper is concerned primarily with the effect of testosterone propionate and methyl testosterone upon the excretion of these substances. Simultaneous studies on the excretion of 17-ketosteroids were also made.