682 



PHYSIOLOGY OF GONADS 



TABLE 12.8 



Influence of diet and pregnant mare serum (PMS) 



on testes and seminal vesicles of 



immature male mice 



(From V. J. DeFeo and J. H. Leathern, 



unpublished.) 



Diet (Per cent 

 Protein X Days Fed) 



per cent X 10 

 per cent X 10 

 per cent X 20 

 per cent X 20 



l.u. 

 

 3 

 

 3 



stage of 

 Spermatogenesis 



4 

 1 



1 5 

 5 



Sper- 

 ma- 

 tids 



Seminal 

 Vesicles 



mg. 



2.7 

 4.5 



2.7 

 3.5 



uels, 1931; Funk and Funk, 1939; Meites, 

 1953), with a stimulation of Leydig cells, 

 an increase in testis size, and, in 40 days, 

 a return of spermatozoa. Underfed males in- 

 jected with gonadotrophin sired litters (Mu- 

 linos and Pomerantz, 1941a, b). Improved 

 nutrition aided by unknown liver factors 

 enhanced the response to androgen in se- 

 vere human oligospermia (Glass and Rus- 

 sell, 1952). 



b. Protein. Feeding a protein-deficient 

 diet to adult male rats for 60 to 90 days 

 did not prevent stimulation of the testes and 

 seminal vesicles after pregnant mare's serum 

 (PMS) administration (Cole, Guilbert and 

 Goss, 1932). As we have noted, immature 

 animals are prevented from maturing when 

 diets lack protein. Nevertheless, a gonadal 

 response to injected gonadotrophin was ob- 

 tained in immature mice fed a protein-free 

 diet for 13 days; tubules and Leydig cells 

 were stimulated and androgen was secreted 

 (Table 12.8). Refeeding alone permitted a 

 recovery of spermatogenesis which was not 

 hastened by concomitant PMS (Leathem, 

 1959c). 



The maintenance of testis weight and 

 spermatogenic activity with testosterone 

 propionate in hypophysectomized adult 

 male rats is well known, but these studies 

 have involved adequate nutrition. If hypo- 

 physectomized rats were fed a protein-free 

 diet and injected with 0.25 mg. testosterone 

 propionate daily, testis weight and sper- 

 matogenesis were less well maintained than 

 in rats fed protein. Testis protein concentra- 



tion was also reduced. These data suggest 

 that influences of nutrition on the testis can 

 be direct and are not entirely mediated 

 through hypophyeal gonadotrophin changes 

 (Leathem, 1959b). 



c. Fat. The rat fed for 20 weeks on a fat- 

 free diet exhibits a degeneration of the 

 seminiferous epithelium within the first 

 weeks which progresses rapidly thereafter. 

 Chorionic gonadotrophin or rat pituitary ex- 

 tract started during the 20th week failed to 

 counteract the tubular degeneration, but 

 testosterone propionate proved effective 

 (Finerty, Klein and Panos, 1957). The re- 

 sult shows that the ineffectiveness of the 

 gonadotrophins could not be due to the fail- 

 ure of androgen release (Greenberg and Ers- 

 hoff, 1951). 



d. Vitamins. Gonadotrophins failed to 

 promote spermatogenesis in vitamin A- 

 (Mason, 1939) or vitamin E- (]Mason, 

 1933; Geller, 1933; Drummond, Noble and 

 Wright, 1939) deficient rats, but in another 

 experiment the atrophic accessory sex or- 

 gans of vitamin A-depleted rats were stimu- 

 lated (Mayer and Goodard, 1951). Lack 

 of vitamin A favored an enhanced response 

 to PMS when the ratios of seminal vesicle 

 weight to body weight were computed 

 (Meites, 1953). The failure of gonadotro- 

 phins to stimulate testis tubules suggests a 

 specific effect of avitaminosis A and E 

 (Mason, 1933) on the responsiveness of the 

 germinal epithelium. 



Subnormal responses of rats to PMS, as 

 measured by relative seminal vesicle weight, 

 were obtained when there were individual 

 vitamin B deficiencies, but the influence was 

 due largely to inanition (Drill and Burrill, 

 1944; Meites, 1953). Nevertheless, sufficient 

 response to chorionic gonadotrophin was ob- 

 tained so that fructose and citric acid levels 

 were restored to normal. Such an effect was 

 not observed to follow dietary correction un- 

 less an unlimited food intake was allowed 

 (Lutwak-Mann. 1958). 



2. Sc 



il W.siclfx and Prosfate 



a. Inanition. Although the accessory re- 

 productive organs resppnd to direct stimu- 

 lation despite an inadequate food intake 

 (Mooi'c and Samuels. 19311, tlio increase 



