REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY IN ADULT MALE RATS TREATED PREPUBERALLY WITH ANDROGENIC HORMONE1

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Abstract
Five groups of [male] rats were injected with testosterone propionate over a 28-day period beginning at different ages between birth and puberty. Three-5 mos. after the last inj. reproductive capacity was evaluated. [male][male] treated between the ages of 1 and 28 days were severely affected. They rarely inseminated estrous [female] [female] and libido was observed to be extremely low. Testes, though normal in histologic appearance, were small; prostates and seminal vesicles were markedly atrophic. Animals treated at older ages (days 5-33, 10-38, 15-43 and 20-48) also bore persistent defects in structure and function of reproductive organs, but the severity of such defects tended gradually to diminish as the hormone was administered at progressively older ages. Accordingly, treatment between days 20 and 48 resulted in some reduction in sexual potency and libido, but the wts. of testes, prostate glands and seminal vesicles were essentially normal.