title: Glutathione peroxidase activity in cell cultures from different regions of human epididymis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the secretory activity and androgen regulation of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in epithelial cell cultures from human epididymis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tissue was obtained from patients undergoing therapeutic orchidectomy for prostatic cancer. Epithelial cell cultures were obtained from the caput, corpus and cauda epididymides. Enzymatic activity was measured in conditioned media by colorimetric methods in absence or presence of 1, 10 or 100 nmol/L testosterone. The effect of 1 micromol/L flutamide was also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GPx activity was higher in cultures from corpus and cauda than caput epididymidis. The presence of different concentrations of testosterone increase enzyme activity in cell cultures from all epididymal regions. Addition of flutamide reverses the androgen dependent increase of GPx activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GPx activity is secreted from human epididymal cells in a region dependent manner and is regulated by androgens.
authors.affiliation: Physiology and Biophysics Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, P.O. Box 70005, Santiago 6530499, Chile. ecastell@med.uchile.cl
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castellón
authors.forename: Hernán
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rioseco
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Royer
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salas
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huidobro
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D004822:Epididymis / Q000201:enzymology*; D005485:Flutamide / Q000494:pharmacology; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D013739:Testosterone; D005485:Flutamide; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase