Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:Q9UIJ5 (Rec)
 58,342 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The combination of a progestin and androgen has received attention as a possible male contraceptive. The progestin is thought to reduce gonadotropin release and suppress spermatogenesis, while the sex accessory organs and male characteristics are maintained by the simultaneous administration of testosterone. In the present study, the histology and ultrastructure of parts of the male reproductive tract of rats treated with medroxyprogesterone (Provera, Upjohn) (1 mg/100 g body weight/day) alone and combined with testosterone (15, 30, or 100 mug/100 g/day) were studied following treatment for up to 16 weeks. The testes and epididymides of rats administered Provera alone or Provera and testosterone weighed less than those of control rats. The weights of the accessory glands of rats treated with Provera were greatly reduced; it was possible to maintain them at approximately control levels by simultaneously administering sufficient testosterone (100 mug/100 g body weight/day). The fertility of some of the animals was tested by caging them with female rats, and none of the treated rats tested in this way was fertile. Similar microscopic alterations were present in the testes of animals administered Provera alone or Provera and different levels of testosterone. Spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and early spermatids were abundant in treated rats and did not show ultrastructural changes. However, many degenerating or necrotic spermatids of the cap phase (approximately stages 6-7) and later were present. Late spermatids of the acrosome and maturation phases were rare. Some necrotic spermatids were surrounded by Sertoli cells, and parts of spermatids lay within lysosome-lyke structures in the cytoplasm of Sertoli cells. Many large lipid droplets were also present in Sertoli cells of treated rats. Leydig cells were smaller in treated animals than in control rats. The results suggest that germ cells can develop up to cap phase spermatids but then undergo degeneration. These alterations in spermatogenesis may be responsible in large part for the antifertility effect of the progestin and androgen combination. Some rats were permitted to recover following the end of treatment. The microscopic appearance of the testis returned to normal within three to six weeks, although epididymal alterations persisted in some animals six weeks after the end of treatment. By 9 to 12 weeks after the end of treatment the reproductive organs had a normal microscopic appearance in all the rats studied.
Anat Rec 1977 Apr
PMID:The influence of progestin and androgen on the fine structure of the male reproductive tract of the rat. I. General effects and observations on the testis. 84 78

Young adult male rats were administered medroxyprogesterone (Provera, Upjohn) alone and in combination with testosterone,as has been done to inhibit male fertility. The histology and the fine structure of several segments of the epididymis, the ventral prostate, and the seminal vesicle were studied at intervals after treatment for up to 16 weeks. The epididymides of treated animals weighed less than those of control rats. Microscopic alterations in the epididymis were similar in rats treated with Provera alone and in those animals that received Provera and testosterone, but the changes varied with the segment of the epididymis. In the middle segment in the caput epididymidis, the normally abundant luminal sperm were absent but the epithelium retained its normal ultrastructural features. In the terminal segment in the cauda epididymidis, different changes were observed in the proximal and distal portions. In the proximal cauda epididymidis, the lumen was small, irregular in outline, and virtually devoid of sperm. The light cells of the epididymal epithelium in the proximal cauda contained extremely large numbers of dense bodies resembling lysosomes, which occupied most of the supranuclear and basal cytoplasm. In contrast, in the distal part of the cauda epididymidis, the epithelium had a normal appearance but the lumen was filled with debris, sperm, and spherical masses of cytoplasm that were apparently derived from germ cells. It is suggested that the clearing of the lumen of the proximal cauda epididymidis may reflect the greater activity of light cells of the epididymal epithelium in that region. Although alterations in spermatogenesis may be most important in the antifertility effect of progestin and androgen, these alterations in epididymal sperm and epithelium may also play a role. The weights of the prostate and seminal vesicles of rats treated with Provera (1 mg/100 g/day) were greatly reduced compared to those of control rats. Although there was considerable variation, in many specimens treated with Provera alone the epithelium of the prostate showed a change from a columnar to a cuboidal or squamous shape, and there was a reduction in the size and abundance of organelles involved in the formation of secretions. The microscopic structure of the seminal vesicle of rats treated with Provera was less severely affected than the prostate. Although the seminal vesicle epithelium of Provera-treated rats was generally not as tall as in control animals, the cells possessed parallel cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum, secretory vacuoles, and an active-appearing Golgi apparatus, suggesting that they continued to be able to form secretions in the presence of Provera. The weights of the sex accessory glands were maintained at control levels by the administration of testosterone, 100 mug/100 g/day, along with the Provera. A normal fine structure was present in the epithelium of both the prostate and seminal vesicle of rats administered this amount of testosterone in addition to Provera...
Anat Rec 1977 Apr
PMID:The influence of progestin and androgen on the fine structure of the male reproductive tract of the rat. II. Epididymis and sex accessory glands. 84 79