Growth and lipemic activity of 19-oxo-androstenedione: a potential growth stimulant for poultry.
A metabolite of androstenedione, 19-oxo-androstene-3,17-dione (19-oxo-A), was evaluated for its effects upon growth, oviductal weight, and plasma lipids of young chicks; estradiol benzoate (EB) was used as reference standard. Ten-day-old Leghorn pullets were treated subcutaneously with either olive oil vehicle, EB at .05 to 1.35 mg/kg/day, or 19-oxo-A at 1 to 30 mg/kg/day at 1/2-log dose concentrations for six days. At the highest dose levels of each compound, the relative potency for these biological responses was compared with EB equated to 100. The 19-oxo-A was 100% of EB for body weight gain, 1.4% for oviductal growth, and 10.1%, 2.6%, and 6.2% in elevation of plasma lipids for cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids, respectively. In an antiogonadotropin assay using the hemicastrate rat, only 19-oxo-A suppressed ovarian weight without significant increase in uterine weight. Additionally, this compound did not bind with androgen, estrogen and progesterone cytosol receptor preparation. 19-oxo-A resembles estrogen in inducing growth of poultry, but differs markedly from estradiol benzoate in being essentially devoid of systemic estrogenicity. Thus, 19-oxo-A represents a new and unique steroid for stimulating growth and fat deposition in commercial meat poultry.
D000735:Androstenedione / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000378:metabolism
D004967:Estrogens; D000735:Androstenedione