Effects of different doses of cyproterone acetate (CA) on preputial gland structure and activity in intact male mice.
The preputial is an androgen-dependent structure which appears to be used in pheromonal signalling in rats and mice. The structure of representative glands from intact oil injected male laboratory TO strain mice was contrasted with tissue from intact counterparts treated with the anti-androgen cyproterone acetate (CA). Sixteen days of an i.m. application of a modest range of CA doses (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/day given as oily solutions) and a variety of control treatments were used to assess influences on the structure and function of the preputial. The glands of intact male mice treated with oil were well-developed and actively secreting with parenchymatous acini at different stages of maturation. Such glands are generally highly Sudanophilic, with the lipophilic stain concentrated in acini in frozen sections and many acini are compressed by their neighbours to assume irregular shapes. Wax and frozen preputial sections from intact subjects treated with 0.5 or 1.0 mg CA were, in contrast, less well-developed and had fewer and smaller lipid droplets. Treatment of counterparts with 2 mg CA reduced acinar number and diameter in both wax and frozen sections with a concomitant increase in the proportion of connective tissue. The data confirm that this anti-androgen antagonizes the androgen secreted by the testis and adrenal cortex in terms of its expression of function on the preputial gland. These data provide further evidence that cyproterone acetate's suppressive actions on murine aggression are primarily via its ability to depress the secretion of odour cues that facilitate attack.
D000818:Animals; D003534:Cyproterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017373:Cyproterone Acetate; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D012629:Sebum / Q000378:metabolism
D017373:Cyproterone Acetate; D003534:Cyproterone