title: Testosterone undecanoate: a useful tool for testosterone administration in rats.
abstract: A major obstacle of testosterone (T) treatment in experimental animals is the difficulty of maintaining long-term physiologic/anabolic steady serum levels after exogenous T administration. In two complementary studies we investigated the pharmacokinetic properties of different T formulations in male rats. Study I. Mature male Wistar rats (> 380 g, n = 4 - 7/group) were divided into four treatment groups: (1) sham-operated non orchiectomised (non-ORX) and placebo; (2) orchiectomised (ORX) and subcutaneous testosterone pellets (TP) (15, 25, 75 mg/60 days release or placebo pellets); (3) ORX and a single injection of testosterone undecanoate (TUD) (31, 62.5 or 125 mg/kg body weight subcutaneously (s.c.) or vehicle; (4) ORX and testosterone propionate (Tprop) (10, 20, 40 mg/month) or vehicle as a single injection s.c. Serum T was measured at baseline and in weekly intervals for 4 weeks. Study II. Mature male Wistar rats (180 - 200 g) were randomly assigned to one of 5 experimental groups (n = 5 - 6/group): (1) normal untreated rats (controls); (2) ORX untreated rats, and non-ORX rats receiving one of three treatment options; (3) 250 mg/kg body weight TUD i.m. (TUD 250); (4) 500 mg/kg body weight TUD i.m. (TUD 500); (5) 100-mg testosterone pellet/90 days release s.c. (TP 100). Serum T was measured at baseline and in intervals for 6 weeks after T administration. In both studies, the kinetic profile of TUD showed favourable continuous steady state levels over several weeks. In contrast, testosterone release by subcutaneous pellets resulted in a shorter than expected duration of elevated serum T levels with high inter-individual variability. Tprop administration led to only a short-lasting serum T increase with low serum T levels already 14 days after injection. In conclusion, a single injection of TUD (100 mg/kg body weight s.c.) is effective in inducing physiological testosterone levels in ORX rats for a minimum of four weeks. High dose TUD (500 mg/kg body weight i.m.) given as a single injection results in supraphysiological anabolic testosterone concentrations for up to six weeks in non-ORX rats. TUD was superior to other T release preparations and represents a convenient and effective tool for T administration in experimental animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Medical University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany. Callies_F@medizin.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Callies
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kollenkirchen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: von zur Mühlen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomaszewski
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Allolio
mesh_terms: D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004343:Drug Implants; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D009919:Orchiectomy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013739:Testosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D043343:Testosterone Propionate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D045930:Anabolic Agents; D004343:Drug Implants; D013739:Testosterone; C010792:testosterone undecanoate; D043343:Testosterone Propionate