Abstract
Summary
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were allowed to feed freely until 10 weeks of age and then were restricted to 50% of the ad libitum food intake of controls for 8 or 23 weeks. Serum testosterone, determined by gas-liquid chromatography, decreased during the first 8 weeks of food restriction to 31% of that in full-fed controls, but then rebounded to control levels following another 15 weeks of semistarvation. Similarly, weights and secretory activities of accessory reproductive organs declined during the first 8 weeks and increased during the last 15 weeks of food restriction. When allowed to refeed for 3 weeks following 20 weeks of semistarvation, serum testosterone rose to 3.0 ng/ml, twice the 1.5 ng/ml in fully fed controls and three times the 1.2 ng/ml for chronically semistarved rats at the same age.
The complete absence of food from previously full-fed rats for 6 days lowered testosterone levels to undetectable quantities.
Absolute weights of testes and epididymides and their concentration of sperm (per gram of tissue) were affected less than androgens during a 50% reduction in feed intake as well as during the subsequent ad libitum refeeding period.
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