Abstract
Summary
The seminal vesicles and ventral prostate of Fischer rats were found to contain 4 discrete glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) isoenzymes as estimated by separation on disc gel polyacrylamide electrophoresis followed by specific staining and planimetry. The activities (μmole NAD PH/min/100 mg tissue) in intact young adult rats for each G6PD isoenzyme were: seminal vesicles; G6PD-1, 0.009; G6PD-2, 0.011; G6PD-3, 0.057; and G6PD-4, 0.004 (numbering based on order of decreasing mobility); ventral prostate; G6PD-1, 0.088; G6 PD-2, 0.025; G6PD-3, 0.032; and G6PD-4, 0.014. Thus, the predominant isoenzyme in ventral prostate was G6PD-1, while in the seminal vesicles G6PD-3 was the predominant isoenzyme.
In rats sacrificed 2 weeks after castration, G6PD-3 was the predominant isoenzyme in both seminal vesicles and ventral prostate. Testosterone propionate, administered subcutaneously at 8, 40, 200, or 1000 μg/day/animal produced a dose-related response in total G6PD activity. In the ventral prostate this increase was primarily due to a dose-related increase in G6PD-1 (maximum increase was 23-fold), a slight decrease in G6PD-2 and a slight increase in G6PD-3 when compared to the diluent-injected castrate control animals. In the seminal vesicles, the increase in G6PD activity was primarily due to a 4-fold increase in G6PD-3 and a 2- to 3-fold increase in G6PD-1. Thus, elevation of G6 PD activity by androgen treatment appears to be the result of induction of different isoenzyme species in seminal vesicles and in ventral prostate.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.