Cyproterone Acetate induced Changes in the Behaviour of Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases in Rat Leydig Cells during Perinatal Development*

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Abstract
The influence of cyproterone acetate (CA) upon the behavior of hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (HSDH) in the Wistar rat Leydig cells was investigated during the perinatal phase with the help of enzyme histochemical and morphometrical techniques. Pregnant rats and their offspring were injected with CA (dosage: 35 mg/kg body wt) s.c. daily from fetal day 14 up to postnatal day (p.n.d.) 31. The animals were killed on 5, 20 and 32 p.n.d.; the enzyme histochemical reactions for 3-.beta.-HSDH, 11-.beta.-HSDH, 17-HSDH and 3-.alpha.-HSDH were performed in cryostat sections of the testis, and the morphometric evaluation of HSDH positive Leydig cells was carried out. On 5 p.n.d. the activity of 17-.beta.-HSDH was slightly impaired in the intertubular Leydig cells of the CA treated animals. On 20 p.n.d., CA prevented nearly completely the HSDH activity in the newly built peritubular Leydig cells; the activities of 3-.beta.-HSDH, 17-.beta.-HSDH and 3-.alpha.-HSDH resided mainly in the intertubular Leydig cells. On 32 p.n.d. HSDH activities in Leydig cells were observed in the control and in treated animals. The differentiation of peritubular Leydig cells, and thereby the steroid production, is delayed by CA, but not entirely blocked.