Androgen control of an inhibitory modulator of phosphodiesterase in rat epididymis and prostate

When rats were injected with the progestin ethynodiol diacetate in doses that suppressed spermatogenesis and the growth of accessory sex glands, the level of phosphodiesterase in epididymal and prostate tissues increased 5- to 10-fold. This increase was prevented by concurrent administration of testosterone propionate. A similar increase in phosphodiesterase activity was observed in the epididymides and prostates of castrated animals, with reversal by treatment with androgen. In immature rats approaching puberty, the phosphodiesterase activity in epididymis and prostate increased while the blood testosterone level remained low; as the testosterone level rose with the onset of puberty, the phosphodiesterase activity decreased. Incubation of enzymically active extracts of accessory tissues from castrated rats with heat-treated extracts of the corresponding normal tissues resulted in strong inhibition of the initially high phosphodiesterase activity. The addition of heat-treated extracts of accessory glands from castrated rats to enzymically active extracts of the corresponding tissues from normal rats resulted in a marked elevation of their phosphodiesterase activities. Of the two heat-stable modulators, the inhibitor factor was dialyzable. The dependence of this factor on testosterone suggests a mechanism of action by which the steroid hormone, by inducing the production in its target tissues of an inhibitory modulator of phosphodiesterase, controls the maintenance of functional levels of cAMP.