Five male baboons were fed cholesterol-1alpha-(3)H until an isotopic steady state was approached in which the ratio of serum to dietary cholesterol specific activity was constant. The animals were then given single intravenous injections of cholesterol-4-(14)C, and the disappearance curves of the (14)C from the circulation were followed for 70-85 days. The total exchangeable cholesterol pools under these conditions were determined by carcass analysis at the end of the experiment and were shown to agree closely with the sums of the two exchangeable cholesterol pools as predicted from analysis of the die-away curve in terms of a two exchangeable pool model, assuming that entry into and exit from the system occur predominantly through the more rapidly exchanging of the two pools. These results have been interpreted as support for the validity of a model consisting of two exchangeable pools and one nonexchangeable or very slowly exchangeable pool as an approximation of over-all cholesterol metabolism in this species. In addition, an anatomical and chemical dissection of these pools was performed. While the three pool model is not applicable to every tissue, it has been possible to show that its general applicability in the intact animal stems from the fact that the major portions of the three cholesterol pools of the body lie within a limited number of tissues.

Animals↗

PubMed1970

Dihydrotestosterone in prostatic hypertrophy. I. The formation and content of dihydrotestosterone in the hypertrophic prostate of man.

To explore the relation between androgens and prostatic hypertrophy in man, the concentrations of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and androstenedione and the rate of conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone have been measured in normal and hypertrophic prostate tissue. First, a double isotope derivative technique was adapted for the measurement of tissue androgen content in 15 normal and 10 hypertrophic prostates. Although there was no significant difference in the content of androstenedione and testosterone between the two types of tissue, the content of dihydrotestosterone was significantly greater in the hypertrophic tissue (0.60 +/-0.10 mug/100 g) than in the normal glands (0.13 +/-0.05 mug/100 g). Second, a regional study was performed in three normal prostates and four glands with early hypertrophy, and it was demonstrated that the dihydrotestosterone content was two and three fold greater in the periurethral area where prostatic hypertrophy usually commences than in the outer regions of the gland. Finally, the rate of conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone has been measured under standardized conditions in tissue slices from 4 normal and 20 hypertrophic prostates. There was no significant difference in the rate of dihydrotestosterone formation between the two types of gland (6.0 +/-0.8 and 7.8 +/-0.5 mumumoles/15 mg of tissue per hr). While the mechanism by which dihydrotestosterone accumulation occurs remains unexplained, it is possible that the local accumulation of dihydrotestosterone may be involved in the pathogenesis of prostatic hypertrophy in man.

Adolescent↗