Effect of cyproterone acetate on structure and function of rhesus monkey reproductive organs

Abstract

A low dose of Cyproterone acetate (CPA; 1 mg/kg body weight/day for 70 days) was administered to adult male rhesus monkeys to assess its effects on testicular and epididymal structure and function in a nonhuman primate species. CPA caused extensive degenerative changes in morphology of seminiferous, efferent duct, and epididymal epithelia, including decrease in diameter of seminiferous and epididymal tubules and their lumen, height of epididymal epithelium, and an increase in intertubular connective tissue. The protein profile of spermatozoa showed alterations during their epididymal transit in control and CPA-treated monkeys. In CPA-treated animals, 19 polypeptides were acquired and nine were eliminated during epididymal transit in contrast to acquisition of 12 and loss of 14 polypeptides in control animals. Treatment with CPA also resulted in the appearance of 14 new polypeptides in epididymal cytosol and luminal fluid, probably of lysosomal origin. The protein pattern of caput and cauda epididymal tubule cytosol, maintained in organ culture and exposed to 100 microM CPA for 3 days, showed absence of eight polypeptides. These results indicate that even at the low dose used in this study, CPA has caused spermatogenic arrest, degenerative changes in the epididymal structure, and alterations in epididymal and sperm protein profile. Suppression of serum testosterone levels indicates the need for androgen supplementation if CPA is to be used for male contraception.

The Possible Protective Role of Cabbage Seed Extract Against Effect of Gamma Rays on Rat Cauda Epididymis and Epididymal Sperms

“…These changes were in accordance with Kaur et al (1992) who described these as degenerative changes that occurred as a consequence of androgen deprivation due to competitive inhibition of androgens at the receptor level and so it reflected the higher threshold requirement of cauda epididymis to androgen. In addition,…”

“…The immature testicular spermatozoa of mammals undergo changes in the morphology, surface properties and biochemical composition during epididymal transit. These changes depend on the epididymal microenvironment, which is formed by the absorptive and secretory functions of the epididymal lining epithelium (Eddy et al, 1985 andKaur et al, 1992) The proper function of the epididymis is closely related to its robust physiological metabolism, and free radicals are inevitably produced as a…”

Changes in binding of lectins to epididymal, ejaculated, and capacitated spermatozoa of the rhesus monkey

“…Six adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta; weight 8-10 kg), procured from the wild, were quarantined in the Primate Research Facility of the institute for 3 months according to established protocol (Kaur et al, 1992). The animals were fed pellet diet, fresh fruits, honey, vitamin supplementation, and water ad libitum.…”

Sperm maturation in rhesus monkey: Changes in ultrastructure, chromatin condensation, and organization of lipid bilayer

“…The identical localization of the lipophilic probes, PXB and MC 540, to the fusigenic acrosomal region of mammalian spermatozoa suggests the presence of anionic phospholipids in these regions of the sperm plasma membrane (Schlegel et al, 1986). The eventual pattern of MC 540 localization as seen in ejaculated spermatozoa was acquired by monkey sperm during their transit through the corpus epididymidis, the site of sperm maturation in monkey (Kaur et al, 1992), thus indicating that the reorganization of anionic lipid domains during maturation is completed in corpus epididymidis.…”

“…The connective tissue and blood vessels were removed from the organs, and the testis was decapsulated. The epididymis was divided into initial segment, caput, corpus, and cauda epididymides (Kaur et al, 1992) and minced in separate containers in PBS. The sperm suspensions from different regions were aspirated carefully and contaminating tissues removed; spermatozoa from these regions were used without further purification for staining; for the estimation of SH groups, the samples were purified using Percoll.…”