Testicular 25-hydroxycholesterol: An alternate substrate for steroidogenesis in reptiles

The current study in wall lizards Hemidactylus flaviviridis was designed to ascertain that Leydig cells utilize testicular macrophage-derived 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC) for steroidogenesis. Leydig cells (LC) collected from regressed testes when incubated with 25-HC that was obtained from HPLC-eluted fraction of testicular macrophage-conditioned medium (TMCM), lyophilized and reconstituted in culture medium (0.5 µg/ml/well), produced considerably higher amount of testosterone. A similar observation was made when Leydig cells were incubated with varying concentrations of commercial 25-HC. Testosterone production by LC increased in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together, it is evident that LC utilize 25-HC as a substrate for testosterone biosynthesis. To examine the gonadotropic regulation of steroid biosynthesis utilizing 25-HC as substrate, ovine follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) that regulates both the testicular functions in lizards was used. Leydig cells were incubated with combinations of FSH and 25-HC as follows: 0 h FSH + 12 h 25-HC, 0 h 25-HC + 12 h FSH. As compared to respective controls, a marked increase in testosterone production was observed in response to FSH indicating that gonadotropin up-regulates uptake of 25-HC as a substrate for testosterone biosynthesis.