7-Dehydrosterol in the sexual organs of the rat

Abstract

A 7-dehydrosterol, presumably 7-dehydro-cholesterol, was detected spectrophotometrically in high concns. in the caput epididymis, corpus epididymis and preputial glands of male rats, and in the bulbi vestibuli of female rats. The concn. of 7-dehydrosterol in its sites of deposition was not influenced by substituting a stock diet for an exptl. diet, nor by varying the intake of vit. A. About the same amts. of 7-dehydrosterol were found in wild brown rats as in tame piebald rats. No 7-dehydrosterol was detected in the rudimentary epididymides of sexually immature rats. An irradiated extract from preputial glands had strong antirachitic activity. No evidence of similar concns. of 7-dehydrosterol was found in the male sex organs of the limited number of other animals investigated.