ANDROSTENEDIONE IN RELATION TO PUBERTY AND GROWTH OF THE MALE CALF

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Abstract
Androstenedione (androst-4-ene-3,17-dione), together with testosterone, occurs in the bovine testis at all stages of development, but the androstenedione: testosterone ratio (Ad:Te) declines characteristically with age: in immature animals, less than 4 months old, it exceeds 1:1; at about 5 months, coinciding with the sudden increase in the secretory output of fructose and citric acid by the seminal vesicles, it is 1; in fully mature bulls it declines to 1:10 or less (Lindner & Mann, 1960). Underfeeding delays considerably both the decline of the Ad:Te ratio as well as the vesicular secretory activity (Mann, Rowson, Short & Skinner, 1967). In the castrated bull, androstenedione, unlike testosterone, is incapable of reversing the involution of seminal vesicles after castration (Mann, Rowson & Hay, 1960). We have now examined the effects of injected androstenedione on testicular and vesicular function, and on body growth, in pubescent bull calves. Three pairs of identical Friesian

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