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Feminization of the hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 system in brook trout by estradiol, testosterone, and pituitary factors.

The effects of estradiol, testosterone, and pituitary extract on hepatic microsomal enzymes were studied in sham-operated and gonadectomized immature brook trout. Estradiol reduced the specific content of cytochromes P-450 and b5 by 70% or more in both groups. Testosterone and pituitary extract also decreased the levels of total P-450 and b5, but to a lesser extent. These latter effects were not evident when the contents of P-450 and b5 were normalized per g liver. Immunoblot analysis with antibodies to P-450 forms from a teleost (scup) showed the presence of cross-reacting proteins in control fish, presumed counterparts to the scup forms. Levels of a trout counterpart to P-450A (a putative testosterone 6 beta-hydroxylase) were strongly suppressed in estradiol-treated fish. A trout P-450B counterpart was suppressed in estradiol-treated fish, but less strongly than was the P-450A counterpart. The trout orthologue of hydrocarbon-inducible P-450E (P-450IA1), the aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) catalyst, was undetectable in any group, consistent with very low levels of AHH activity in these fish. Estradiol or pituitary extract also decreased the levels of NADH-cytochrome b5 and NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase activities in sham-operated but not in total P-450 or b5, suggesting an influence of gonads in maintaining normal levels of the reductases. The results support a prominent suppressive role for estrogens in producing the general sex differences in microsomal enzymes in fish liver and indicate that there could be affects on several P-450 forms. However, the mechanism of hormone action in this regulation is uncertain. The results also suggest the existence of unidentified, possibly gonadal, factors which contribute to the regulation of reductases in teleost liver.

Animals↗

Parental responsiveness is feminized after neonatal castration in virgin male prairie voles, but is not masculinized by perinatal testosterone in virgin females.

We previously found a large sex difference in the parental responsiveness of adult virgin prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) such that most males are spontaneously parental, whereas most females are not. Because this sex difference is independent of the gonadal hormones normally circulating in adult virgin voles, the present study examined whether perinatal hormones influence the development of this sex difference. Males were treated prenatally (via their pregnant dam) with both the androgen receptor blocker flutamide (5 mg/day/dam) and the aromatase inhibitor ATD (1 mg/day/dam), or oil, for the last 2 weeks of gestation. Half of the subjects from each group were castrated on the day of birth and the other half received a sham surgery. As adults, intact males were castrated and all males received a silastic capsule filled with testosterone. Prenatal treatment with flutamide and ATD had no effect on males' behavior toward pups, but neonatal castration significantly reduced the percentage of males acting parentally. In a second experiment, females were exposed to testosterone propionate (TP; 50 microg/day/dam) or oil via their dam during the last 2 weeks of gestation. For the first neonatal week, half of the females from each group were injected with TP (1 mg/day) and the other half oil. As adults, females were ovariectomized and half from each group received a testosterone-filled capsule and the other half received an empty capsule. None of the perinatal TP treatments increased females' parental responsiveness, although females from all groups that received testosterone capsules as adults were highly parental. Therefore, although postnatal testicular hormones are necessary for high parental responsiveness in males, the behavior of females is not influenced by perinatal exposure to testosterone.

Age Factors↗

Nuclei in testicular feminization (Tfm) are not activated by intact testosterone receptor complexes: a morphometric study in striated urethral muscle of mosaic mice.

Sex reversed mice heterozygous for the X-linked Tfm mutation are mosaics with respect to the Tfm locus. In the androgen-dependent striated urethral muscle, nuclei coding for the intact testosterone receptor protein and nuclei coding for the defective Tfm receptor protein are incorporated in the same multinucleate muscle fibres. The intact testosterone receptor complex can thus be expected to enter the Tfm nuclei. Our measurements show that the fibre diameters of the mosaic muscle form a homogeneous population, intermediate in size between induced male and non-inducible Tfm phenotypes. By contrast, the nuclear size shows a bimodal distribution, the subpopulations corresponding to Tfm and wild type nuclei. The results indicate that the Tfm nuclei are not activated by the intact testosterone receptor complex.

Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome↗

Induction of Müllerian duct derivatives in testicular feminized (Tfm) mice by prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol.

When pregnant mice carrying the Tfm mutation gene were injected with diethylstilbestrol (DES) from Days 9 to 16 of gestation, the regression of the Müllerian duct derivatives was inhibited in their wild male and Tfm male offspring. The degree of persistence of the Müllerian duct derivatives demonstrated a dependence on DES dose. Complete or almost complete preservation of the Müllerian ducts was observed in the animals exposed to high doses of DES. Since Tfm males from non-injected mothers had no reproductive tract except the vaginal anlage, despite the presence of testes, bilateral occurrence of the Müllerian duct derivatives in Tfm males following prenatal exposure to DES indicates that the characteristic features of the reproductive tract in these animals are almost the same as that in normal females.

Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome↗

Direct and mediated effects of testosterone: the development of intersexes in sex reversed mosaic mice, heterozygous for testicular feminization.

The X-linked Tfm mutation causes androgen insensitivity in the target cells of testerone. Due to random X-inactivation, XX-mice heterozygous for Tfm are mosaics in respect to androgen sensitivity. By the autosomal "sex reversal" mutation, Tfm-heterozygotes were converted to males during embryonic life so that male sex organs developed in which the mosaic was expressed. The mutual influence of both components of the mosaic is analysed. It is shown that cellular differentiation is directly induced by testosterone, while the formation of organ anlagen and proliferation are locally mediated effects.

Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome↗

Influence of feminism and professional status upon service options for the battered woman.

This paper reports on a survey of volunteers from domestic violence agencies and social workers throughout one state. Respondents were given a hypothetical case of an abused wife and asked to rate the level of their emphasis upon several services in their work with this woman. The services were divided into two categories: those which focused upon independence and those which focused upon interpersonal dynamics. It was found that feminist ideology and gender were better predictors of emphasis upon independence than either professional status, age, gender, experience with abused wives, or personal history with spouse abuse. The finding that social workers emphasized independence more so than did volunteers ran counter to some concerns expressed in the previous literature.

Achievement↗