EFFECT OF TESTOSTERONE ON MUSCLE AND OTHER TISSUES AND ON CARCASS COMPOSITION IN HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED, THYROIDECTOMIZED, AND GONADECTOMIZED MALE RATS

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Abstract
Admn. of testosterone propionate to both hypophysectomized and thyroidectomized young rats for 56 days increased their body wt. gain by 7 g., of which more than 50% could be accounted for by the increased mass of accessory sexual tissue. Gonadectomy at weaning in male rats reduced the body wt. gain to a level 14% below normal. Testosterone provoked a body wt. gain of 21 g. above that of castrated controls, and only 25% of this occurred in accessory sexual tissue. The thigh-muscle/ body wt. ratio was subnormal, 2.9-3.1%, in hypophysectomized and thyroidectomized rats but was normal, 4.4%, in the male castrates. Testosterone had no appreciable effect on the wts. of thigh muscle, heart, liver, and bone, and on the carcass protein percentage in the 3 operated groups. The renotropic effect of testosterone was observed only in gonadectomized rats. Testosterone-treated thyroidectomized rats had a lower fat content and larger (2 x) testes than did their controls. This testicular hypertrophy was associated with accelerated spermatogenesis. In all groups the levator ani muscle wt. was 6-7 times greater in the treated than in the control animals.

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