TESTOSTERONE AND TISSUE RESPIRATION OF THE CASTRATE MALE RAT WITH A POSSIBLE TEST FOR MYOTROPHIC ACTIVITY1

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Abstract
-The authors studied aerobic respiration of various tissues of 12 normal, 16 castrate, and 13 testosterone-treated 60-day-old male rats, the last 2 groups castrated at 30 days. Tissues with endogenous substrates (liver and skeletal muscle) showed no rise in O2 uptake upon castration in contradistinction to the high rate of glucose oxidation found with brain. All castrate tissues showed a relative insensitivity to the in vitro oxidation-inhibiting properties of added testosterone. A "braking" action of testosterone upon carbohydrate utilization is suggested. The levator ani muscle was found to be markedly atrophied in the castrated male rats but was hypertrophied in the testosterone-treated castrates. The authors propose further study of this myotrophic reaction as a possible test for protein-anabolic activity of steroids.