Studies on the critical period of neonatal life for the differentiation of sebum secretion in rats.
Sprague-Dawley rats were castrated at the age of 1, 3, 5, 10 or 21 days. A control group of male and female rats were also included for comparison. The secretion rate of sebum was assessed from the amount of skin-surface lipids that could be extracted by acetone and which had been produced during 2 days. Sebum production increased with age, particularly in male rats. Castration of male rats at the age of 1, 3, 5, or 10 days showed no differences from female rats in sebum secretion when measured at the age of 80 days. On the other hand, male rats that had been castrated at the age of 21 days secreted significantly more sebum than female rats.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002369:Castration; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012627:Sebaceous Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D012629:Sebum / Q000378:metabolism*; D012737:Sex Factors