THE RÔLE OF GLYCOGEN DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAT TESTIS AND PROSTATE

Abstract

Summary. A study was carried out to assess the levels of glycogen and glycogen-degrading enzymes in rat testes from the fetal period to old age in order to elucidate the rôle of glycogen in gonadal maturation. Simultaneously, the capacity of the differentiating testes to secrete androgen was investigated using the maltase activity of the dorsolateral prostate as an index. High levels of glycogen and glycogen-degrading enzymes were observed to be present in the testes and dorsolateral prostate during fetal life. This suggests that glycogen serves as an important energy source for the testes during fetal development.