Effect of Testosterone and Growth Hormone on Nucleic Acid and Protein in the Sex Accessory Glands of Long-Evans and Sprague-Dawley Rats

Abstract

Growth of the sex accessory glands was studied in hypophysectomizedcastrated male rats of the Long-Evans and the Sprague-Dawley strains, following the injection of testosterone propionate, bovine growth hormone, or a combination of the two hormones. Testosterone propionate, 300 μg/day, effected similar increases in the wet weight, the protein and the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of the ventral prostate and the seminal vesicles in rats of both strains. Growth hormone itself was ineffective in stimulating growth of the sex accessory glands; however, when given with testosterone, it enhanced their response with respect to the synthesis of both RNA and protein.