Progesterone-4-14C Metabolism to Androgens by Testes of Normal and Isoimmune Aspermatogenic Guinea Pigs12

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Abstract
Minces of testes from normal guinea pigs and from animals with isoimmune aspermatogenesis caused by intradermal injection of homologous testis extracts were incubated for varying times with progesterone-4-C14. Rates of appearance of label in the 17[alpha]-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione and testosterone fractions were followed. Per equal testis fraction, less progesterone-C14 disappeared, and less labeled 17[alpha]-hydroxyprogesterone and testosterone appeared in the incubations of isoimmune tissue than in the normals. There was no statistically significant difference in label appearing in androstenedione in incubations of isoimmune as compared to normal tissue. The ratio of label in testosterone to that in androstenedione decreased markedly in isoimmunlty. It is concluded that progesterone is metabolized to the 2 androgens less readily by the tissue from the isoimmune guinea pigs than from their controls and that the net reduction of androstenedione to testosterone is less in that from the isoimmune animals than in that from the controls, even though there is a 2-fold hyperplasia of Leydig cells in the testes of the isoimmune animals.