Testicular steroidogenesis in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta.
Studies were undertaken to investigate testicular steroidogenesis in the Rhesus monkey Macaca mulatta. Testicular fragments (50 mg) were incubated for 3 hr with pregnenolone-7-3H or with progesterone-7-3H. The major metabolite of pregnenolone was progesterone (70.1%), with a lesser conversion to 17-hydroxyprogesterone (1.6%), androstenedione (3.3%), and testosterone (7.2%). The delta-5 intermediates 17-hydroxypregnenolone (4.6%) and dehydroepiandrosterone (8.6%) were also identified in the pregnenolone incubates. A majority of the progesterone substrate was not metabolized by the testicular fragments (80.1%), while some conversion to 17-hydroxyprogesterone (3.4%), androstenedione (4.8%), and testosterone (11.7%) occurred in the incubates. These results suggest that testicular fragments from the Rhesus monkey may convert pregnenolone to testosterone through both the delta-4 and the delta-5 pathways.
D000735:Androstenedione / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000882:Haplorhini; D006908:Hydroxyprogesterones / Q000378:metabolism; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008251:Macaca / Q000378:metabolism*; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011284:Pregnenolone / Q000378:metabolism; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D006908:Hydroxyprogesterones; D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione; D011374:Progesterone; D011284:Pregnenolone