ABSTRACT

The present study describes the concentration and molecular form of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in Holstein dairy cattle with mild (bacterial endocarditis; BEC) or severe (dilated cardiomyopathy; DCM) heart failure. Significant increases in plasma concentration of ANP were observed in cattle with DCM (73·3 ± 16·02 pmol/l, n=4, P<0·01) and BEC (20·6± 3·45 pmol/l, n=7, P<0·05), when compared with those in control cattle (14·5± 1·84 pmol/l, n= 12). The concentration of ANP in cattle with DCM was significantly (P<0·01) higher compared with that in cattle with BEC. Plasma concentration of ANP correlated significantly with right atrial pressure (r =0·95, P<0·01) and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (r= 0·84, P<0·01). Gel-permeation chromatography of ANP in plasma and the right atrium from control and cattle with BEC revealed a single peak corresponding to the elution position of authentic human ANP(99–126) in plasma, and two peaks corresponding to those of authentic human ANP(99–126) and pro-ANP in the atrial extract. In cattle with DCM, however, peaks corresponding to the elution positions of authentic human β-ANP and/or pro-ANP were detected in addition to the peak corresponding to ANP(99–126). The content of ANP in the right atrium of cattle with DCM was significantly (P<0·05) increased compared with that in control cattle and those with BEC. The present study therefore suggests that the synthesis and secretion of ANP might be stimulated by atrial distention induced by increased atrial pressure. This suggestion is supported by the fact that the middle molecular weight form of ANP, possibly corresponding to human β-ANP, was detected in both the plasma and atria of the cattle with severe heart failure.

Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 124, 463–467

ABSTRACT

The adrenal gland of castrated adult male rats metabolized [³H]dehydroepiandrosterone in vitro to Δ₄-androsten-3,17-dione (4AD), testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 5α-androstane-3,17-dione (5αAD). Despite the low testosterone values, DHT and 5αAD were higher 30 and especially 60 days after castration, with raised 4AD:testosterone and decreased testosterone:DHT ratios. The 5α-reductase activity thus appears to increase with time after castration. Fourteen days after castration, 4AD was the only metabolite that was raised compared with intact animals, and testosterone was comparable in sham-operated and castrated rats.

The administration of testosterone propionate to castrated rats restored testosterone values to those of intact rat adrenals, whereas 4AD values were greater. The administration of dihydrotestosterone propionate also yielded higher levels of 4AD, in the presence of a lower testosterone value. After administration of oestradiol benzoate, 4AD values were lower especially compared with the other hormone-treated groups, and there was an unexpectedly high testosterone value.

These data indicate that the adrenal gland contributes to the production of androgens, as previously noted by Andò, Canonaco, Beraldi et al. (1988) who showed increased plasma 4AD and testosterone levels in adult male rats 30 days after castration. Furthermore, adrenal androgen production in castrated animals is differentially regulated by sex steroids.

Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 121, 419–424

Abstract

Clinical resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) has been classified into generalized resistance to thyroid hormone (GRTH) and pituitary resistance to thyroid hormone (PRTH) types. Since similar mutations have been identified in tri-iodothyronine (T₃) receptor (TR) β gene in GRTH and PRTH, and since considerable overlap has been seen in the clinical manifestations in patients with GRTH and PRTH, two subtypes of RTH are now considered to be a continuous spectrum with the same genetic defect. A point mutation at amino acid Arg 338 to Trp (R338W) which we identified in a patient with PRTH is very interesting, since R338W has been found in several other patients with PRTH, raising the possibility that this mutation may tend to associate with a phenotype of PRTH.

In our previous study, we found that R338W had relatively less impaired transcriptional potency, weaker dominant negative activity on various T₃ response elements and poor homodimer formation, as compared with another GRTH mutant. In this study, to investigate the functional properties of R338W further, especially in terms of the relation between transcriptional activity and dimer formations, we introduced the R338W mutation into the mutant receptors, K443E and F451X, constructing the double mutants, R338W/K443E and R338W/F451X. Both R338W/K443E and R338W/F451X showed negligible T₃ binding and transcriptional activities. The dominant negative activities of K443E and F451X were, however, significantly weakened by introducing the R338W mutation. As a control, a double mutant G345R/K443E was constructed by introducing a point mutation, G345R, located in the same exon 9 as R338W, into the K443E mutant. Dominant negative activity did not differ between G345R/K443E and K443E. Homodimer formation was significantly reduced in the double mutants containing R338W, but not G345R.

In summary, introducing the R338W mutation, but not G345R, into the mutant TR significantly weakened the dominant negative activity, despite further impairment of the T₃ binding and transcriptional activities.

Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 151, 293–300

Abstract

A possible role of tri-iodothyronine (T₃) on the interplay between testicular steroids and Sertoli cells has been investigated on the basis of previous findings demonstrating a direct inhibitory influence of T₃ on aromatase activity and oestradiol production in peripuberal Sertoli cells. In this context, the present study was focused on the effects of T₃ on oestrogen receptor (ER) and androgen receptor (AR) contents in the cytosol and nucleus of Sertoli cells isolated from 2-, 3- and 4-week-old euthyroid, hypothyroid and hypothyroid treated rats.

Hypothyroidism was induced by the oral administration of 0·025% methimazole (MMI) from birth until the rats were killed at 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age. Half of the MMI-treated animals were injected i.p. with l-tri-iodothyronine (T₃; 3 μg/100 g body weight) during the last week before death. Sertoli cells from all groups were initially cultured under basal conditions for the first 24 h and subsequently in the presence of testosterone with or without T₃ for an additional 24 h. Hypothyroidism was associated with severe impairment of body as well as testicular growth. Euthyroid ERs showed an elevated K _d (0·76 nm) which was similar in the different age groups investigated. The in vitro addition of T₃ or testosterone induced a decrease in ER content and this decrease was greater after exposure to both hormones. In 2- and 3-week-old hypothyroid rats, ER content was markedly increased and was reversed in euthyroid rats when T₃ was given in vivo. When ERs were assayed in the Sertoli cell nucleus and cytoplasm of 2- and 3-week-old animals, a strong relationship in ER content in the two cellular compartments was observed. Neither of the hormones tested seemed to affect the AR content in the nucleus significantly, while the in vitro addition of testosterone or T₃ or both hormones together augmented the ARs in the cytosol to a greater extent, resulting in an increase in their total (cytosolic and nuclear) content in the cells.

The present data suggest that T₃ down-regulates ERs and up-regulates ARs in peripuberal Sertoli cells. The additive effect of testosterone and T₃ in up-regulating ARs could possibly involve a role for T₃ in influencing the androgen responsiveness of the Sertoli cells during spermatogenesis.

Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 148, 43–50

Transient postnatal hypothyroidism in male rats induces a prolonged proliferation of immature Sertoli cells. This change in Sertoli cell replication at young ages is coincident with enhanced and prolonged aromatase activity that leads to a marked increase in the conversion of androgens into estrogens. Both events are drastically inhibited by tri-iodothyronine (T(3)) replacement either in vivo or in vitro. This study, after the immunolocalization of aromatase in cultured rat Sertoli cells, examined the effects elicited by T(3) on this enzyme, by simultaneously investigating three functional levels of aromatase: mRNA expression, protein content, and enzymatic activity. The immunolocalization of cytochrome P450 aromatase (P450 arom) was shown in the cytoplasm of cultured Sertoli cells from 15- and 21-day-old rats. Western blot analysis revealed an enhancement of aromatase protein content upon stimulation with N(6),2'-O-dibutyryladenosine-3':5'-cyclic monophosphate ((Bu)(2)cAMP) that was clearly down-regulated by T(3). The presence of a functional P450 arom protein in purified Sertoli cells was confirmed by the measurement of [(3)H]H(2)O released after incubation with [1 beta-(3)H]androst-4-ene-3,17-dione. With 100 nM T3, a decrease in both P450 arom mRNA levels and aromatase activity was observed. The aromatase enzymatic activity was strongly stimulated by (Bu)(2)cAMP and markedly down-regulated by T(3). In contrast, the strong increase in aromatase mRNA upon (Bu)(2)cAMP stimulation was apparently unaffected by T(3) administration. This paper shows how the identification of an altered transcript induced by T(3) coding for putative truncated and inactive aromatase protein might explain such a decrease in aromatase activity in T(3)-treated cells. On the basis of these results, it is concluded that at least two mechanisms could be involved in the down-regulatory effect of T(3) on aromatase activity in prepuberal Sertoli cells. The first mechanism is linked to a possible direct modulatory role for T(3) in the regulation of the aromatase promoter, whilst the second one is represented by the induction of altered transcripts coding for truncated and inactive aromatase proteins.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of thyroid hormones on androgen metabolism in Sertoli cells isolated from 3- and 4- week-old rats.

Hypothyroidism was induced by the oral administration of 0·025% methimazole (MMI) from birth until the rats were killed at 3 and 4 weeks of age. Half of the MMI-treated animals were injected i.p. with l-tri-iodothyronine (T₃ 3 μg/100 g body weight) during the last week before death. Sertoli cells from all groups were initially cultured under basal conditions for the first 24 h and subsequently in the presence of testosterone with or without T₃ for an additional 24 h. Hypothyroidism was associated with severe impairment of body as well as testicular growth. Indeed, body and testicular weights were similar in 4-week-old hypothyroid animals to those in 3-week-old control rats.

Testosterone metabolism in Sertoli cells isolated from 3- and 4-week-old hypothyroid rats was mainly expressed by the lowering of 5α-dihydrotestosterone + androstane 3α, 17β–diol and an enhanced formation of 5α-reduced steroids with poor androgenic properties (e.g. 5α–androstane, 3, 17α-dione (androstanedione), 5α–androstan, 3-ol-17-one (androsterone)). Treatment of the same group of animals with T₃ in vivo and in vitro did not influence the pattern of 5α–reductase steroids substantially.

The most striking finding in the Sertoli cells of 3-week-old hypothyroid rats was the dramatic enhancement of oestradiol formation which persisted to a lesser extent 1 week later. Oestradiol formation was greatly decreased by the addition of T₃ in vivo and in vitro in hypothyroid animals.

These results suggest that T₃ might influence androgen metabolism during the functional maturation of Sertoli cells.

Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 140, 349–355