The concentrations of free myo-inositol in the rat testis and epididymis were measured by a microbiological assay and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. The inositol concentration in cauda epididymal tissue was three to four times the concentration in testicular tissue and approximately twice that in the caput epididymidis The level of PGF2α in cauda epididymal tissue was about twice the concentration for tissue of the caput epididymidis. Daily treatment with the minimal dose (7 mg/kg) of α-chlorohydrin (3-chloro-1,2-propanediol) which causes sterility in male rats did not change the concentration of ionsitol in the testis and caput epididymidis, or the incorporation of [U-14C]glucose radioactivity into total lipid of washed cauda epididymal spermatozoa. Higher daily doses (40 mg/kg) of α-chlorohydrin increased the concentrations of inositol and PGF2α in the cauda but not in the caput epididymidis or the testis. Radioactivity from myo-[2-3H]inositol was readily incorporated into lipid of cauda epididymal tissue during incubation in vitro; almost all of the activity was in phosphatidylinositol. The addition of α-chlorohydrin (160 µg/ml) decreased the amount of [3H]inositol radioactivity incorporated into phosphatidylinositol of cauda epididymal tissue but it did not change its rate of glucose uptake. When homogenate prepared from washed epithelial linings of the ductus deferens was used α-chlorohydrin concentrations as low as 1 and 10 µg/ml markedly decreased the amount of [3H]inositol radioactivity incorporated into phosphatidylinositol extracted from these preparations. These results suggest that α-chlorohydrin interferes with lipid synthesis and metabolism in the cauda epididymidis.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
J. K. Voglmayr (1974) studied this question.