THE EFFECT OF ANDROGEN ON SPERMATOGENESIS

Abstract

Introduction¹ The inhibiting effects of the male sex hormone on testis weight and spermatogenesis in the rat have been reported by numerous workers using wide ranges of doses of androgens in various ages of animals. The trend of the results, however, shows an apparently anomalous situation in that small doses of androgen (0.1 to 1.0 mg. per day) caused greater injury than large doses (2.0 to 10.0 mg. per day) (Moore and Price, 1937, 1938; Selye and Friedman, 1941; Zahler, 1944; and numerous other references listed in the bibliographies of these papers). Administration of estrogenic substances to rats likewise produced a severe suppression of testicular function which could be prevented if androgens were injected simultaneously (Selye and Friedman, 1941; Gaarenstroom and deJongh, 1946). The secretion of the gonadotrophins by the pituitary is apparently regulated by the circulating sex hormones,