Effect of Cyproterone Acetate on³H-testosterone Uptake and Enzyme Synthesis by the Ventral Prostate of the Rat

Abstract

Significant decreases in the concentration of radioactivity following the injection of l,2-3H-testosterone to male adult rats treated from 8–21 days with cyproterone acetate have been noted. No significant changes, however, following the drug were noted in the content of radioactivity in either liver, muscle or plasma. In addition, cyproterone acetate inhibited body weight gain and resulted in significant decreases in ventral prostate weight, decrease in RNA/DNA ratio in the ventral prostate and decreased content of acid phosphatase as compared to control rats. Results in pair feeding studies confirmed earlier random feeding experiments. These data suggest that the inhibitory effect of cyproterone acetate on the accumulation of testosterone by rat ventral prostate but not other tissues studied may represent an important mechanism to explain the selective inhibitory effect of anti-androgens on metabolic activity of secondary sex tissues. (Endocrinology84: 1330, 1969)