RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 "TROPHIC" INFLUENCE ON THE SYMPATHETIC NERVES OF THE VAS DEFERENS AND SEMINAL VESICLE OF THE GUINEA PIG
JF Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
JO J Pharmacol Exp Ther
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 528
OP 536
VO 186
IS 3
A1 ARUN R. WAKADE
A1 S. M. KIRPEKAR
YR 1973
UL http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/186/3/528.abstract
AB Endogenous norepinephrine content and retention of 3H-norepinephrine were investigated in the vas deferens, seminal vesicle, urinary bladder and left atrium of the guinea pig under several experimental conditions. Castration of adult guinea pigs resulted in a 50% reduction in wet weight of vas deferens and seminal vesicle. Reduction in weight of these tissues was accompanied by a proportional decrease in norepinephrine content and 3H-norepinephrine retention. Administration of testosterone (10 mg/kg s.c.) five times a week for 30 days to castrate adult animals increased the weight of vas deferens and seminal vesicle by 2-to 3-fold. Norepinephrine content and retention also revealed about 2-to 3-fold increase. In spite of simultaneous loss or gain in the wet weights of seminal vesicies and vasa deferentia, their endogenous amine concentration, expressed as micrograms per gram of tissue, remained remarkably constant under a wide variety of experimental conditions. Seventy-five days after castration of immature guinea pigs (1-4 days old), the weights of vasa deferentia and seminal vesicles were only ¼ and ⅛, respectively, of the corresponding control tissues. Norepinephrine content and 3H-norepinephrine retention of these tissues were also about ¼ to ⅛ of controls. Castration and testosterone treatment had no effect on the wet weight, norepinephrine content and 3H-norepinephrine retention by the urinary bladder and left atrium. It is hypothesized that, as the vas deferens and seminal vesicle degenerate (after castration) or regenerate (after testosterone treatment), sympathetic nerves follow a similar pattern. It may be that the effector organ is capable of maintaining a constant density of innervation by exerting a "trophic" influence on nerves. © 1973 by The Williams & Wilkins Co.