Effect of pituitary hormones, androgens, and corticosteroids on the seminal vesicles of the castrate catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch)

Abstract

A5-3P-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity (A5-3P-HSD) has been studied in the interrenal glands and the seminal vesicles of intact and castrate male catfish. The intensity of the enzyme reaction is about equal in the seminal vesicles of both groups, whereas the intensity of enzyme reaction in the cortical cells is more pronounced i n the castrate than in the intact male.The responses of the interrenal glands and the regressed seminal vesicles of the castrate catfish in the postspawning period to exogenous luteinizing hormone (LH). 94-androstenedione ( A4-androst. ), desoxycorticosterone acetate (DCA) and hydrocortisone acetate (HA) (experiment 2 ) , and the effect of the LH, A4-androst., DCA and HA, and prolactin (LtH) and growth hormone (STH), singly or in combination o n the regressed seminal vesicles of the castrate catfish (experiment 3 ) have also been studied. The data indicate that both LH and A4-androst. induce secretory activity in the seminal vesicles but they appesr to act through different routes. Since LH brings about an increrse in the nuclear diameters in cortical cells and A4-androst. does not, it is felt that LH acts through the cortical cells of the interrenal glands while A4-androst. acts directly on the seminal vesicles. Further, 44-androst. can synergize with LtH and STH in inducing secretory activity in the seminal vesicles, whereas DCA and HA do not. These results, coupled with the fact that 4j-3p-HSD activity is more marked in the cortical cells of the castrate than in the intact catfish, strongly suggest that following castration, the resulting high titers of gonadotrophin act on the interrenal cortical cells to produce androgens which, in turn, induce hyperactivity in the seminal vesicles.

An enzyme-histochemical study concerning the localization of steroid glucuronide production in the reproductive organs of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus

“…This observation confirms findings of Nayyar and Sundararaj (1969) with the Indian catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis. UDPGD could be dem-onstrated in a few interstitial cells in fish from nature only.…”

Annual cyclic, and castration and cyproterone acetate-induced, changes in sialic acid content of the seminal vesicle of the catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch)

“…Castration of the catfish caused a significant increase in both SV-SI and sialic acid content. The apparent paradoxical phenomenon, unlike in mammals, of an increase in SV-SI and hypersecretory activity of the organ (in castrated fish) has also been reported by Sundararaj and Nayyar (1969). In the present study, histological signs of hypersecretory activity of the SV were evident, the loculi were all fully distended with secretory material in the castrated fish than in sham-operated fish (unpublished observations).…”

“…They have been reported to undergo seasonal changes in weight and secretory activity in close correlation with the testicular cycle (Sundararaj 1958). Sundararaj and his co-workers (Sundararaj and Goswami 1965;Nayyar and Sundararaj 1969;Sundararaj and Nayyar 1969a,b;Sundararaj et al 1971) showed that the secretory activity of the SV, which peaks during the spawning phase, is androgen-dependent under gonadotropin control. Histochemical studies have shown that the SVs secrete acid mucopolysaccharides, mucoproteins, phospholipids and steroid glucoronides into the lobular lumen (Nawar 1959;Nayyar and Sundararaj 1970;van den Hurk et al 1987;Asahina et al 1989).…”

Steroidogenesis in the testes and seminal vesicles of spawning and non-spawning African catfish, Clarias gariepinus

“…Maybe, the intracellular effect of gonadotropin in the two target organs is different, or the seminal vesicles are not only activated by gonadotropin but also by other pituitary hormones or testicular hormones. In this respect it is of interest that in a related species, the Indian cattish, a hypersecretion of the seminal vesicles was found in hypophysectomized and castrated males after treatment with gonadotropin, prolactin, growth hormone, and some androgens, and with a combination of these hormones ( Sundararaj and Goswami, 1965;Nayyar and Sundararaj, 1969;Sundararaj et al, 1971 5p-DIHYDRO-…”

“…the Blennidae, Gobiidae (Eggert, 1931;Weisel, 1949)) Ictaluridae (Sneed and Clemens, 1963 ) and Siluridae ( Van Tienhoven, 1983 ) , the male gonads are composed of two separate organs, the testes and the seminal vesicles. In the Siluridae, histological and enzyme-cytochemical investigations of the Indian catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Sundararaj and Nayyar, 1967;Nayyar and Sundararaj, 1969), and the African catfish (Resink et al, 1987c;Van Den Hurk et al, 1987a) point to interstitial cells in the seminal vesicles as well as the testes as possible sources of steroids.…”