Long-term effects of perinatal androgenization on reproductive parameters of male rat offspring androgenization and male rat reproduction

• Published in: Hormone and Metabolic Research
• Main Authors: Guerra, M. T., Perobelli, J. E., Sanabria, M., Anselmo-Franci, J. A., De Grava Kempinas, W.
• Other Authors: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: fertility; perinatal androgenization; rat male offspring; sexual behavior; sperm counts; corn oil; estrogen; follitropin; luteinizing hormone; progesterone; testosterone; testosterone propionate; adulthood; androgen therapy; animal experiment; body weight; controlled study; epididymis; estrogen blood level; follitropin blood level; gestational age; histopathology; lactation; luteinizing hormone blood level; male fertility; newborn; nonhuman; perinatal period; priority journal; progeny; progesterone blood level; qualitative analysis; quantitative analysis; rat; reproduction; spermatogenesis; testosterone blood level; Rattus; Rattus norvegicus; Rodentia; Zea mays; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/75057; https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0033-1341434

It is known that during sex differentiation, fetal androgens are critical determinants of the male phenotype. Although testosterone is necessary for normal development of male sexual behavior, perinatal androgen treatment can result in disruption of normal male sexual reproduction. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered either corn oil (vehicle) or testosterone propionate at 0.2 mg/kg from gestational day 12 until the end of lactation and the reproductive function of male offspring was evaluated at 90 (adulthood) and 270 (middle age) days of age. Perinatal androgenization in the rat provoked a reduction in sperm production and reserves in adulthood that did not affect fertility and did not persist at more advanced ages, as shown by the results at post-natal day 270. If perinatal androgenization promotes similar effects in humans of reproductive age, the results of the present work can impact male reproduction health, given the less efficient spermatogenesis and lower sperm reserves in the human epididymis, compared to rodents. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart. New York.