Testosterone and synthetic and androgens improve the in vitro survival of human marrow progenitor cells in serum-free suspension cultures

The direct effect of testosterone and its synthetic analogs on the maintenance of human erythroid progenitor cells (BFU-E) and GM-CFC was studied in suspension cultures. To avoid interference by serum components, the experiments were conducted in serum-free media containing insulin, transferrin, selenium, BSA, and alpha-thioglycerol. When added at concentrations between 10(-7)M and 10(-9)M, testosterone improved survival of BFU-E and GM-CFC. Of the nine analogs tested, eight improved BFU-E maintenance in vitro: nandrolone norethandrolone, and oxymetholone were most active, whereas etiocholanolone had only marginal effects. The influence of these compounds on GM-CFC was less pronounced, with testosterone showing the highest activity. It is concluded that testosterone and some of the synthetic analogs tested exert their hemopoietic effect, at least partly, by affecting the maintenance of erythroid and granulocytic stem cells, directly by increasing their survival or proliferation or indirectly by increasing the input from multipotent stem cell pool, or by both mechanisms.

[Influence of various enzyme inductors and combinations of inductors on DDT residue elimination in rats]

A study was under-taken to investigate the influence of pretreatments with various hepatic microsomal enzyme inducers on the elimination of DDT residues in rats previously contaminated with p,p' -DDT at 5 mg/kg/day, during 20 days. The following inducers were used : phenobarbital (50 a mg/kg/day, i.p.), 3,4-benzopyrene (20 mg/kg/day, s.c.) and norethandrolone (20 mg/kg/day, s.c.), all given during 14 consecutive days. Each inducer was administered singly or in combination with the other two according to a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial experiment. The animals were then sacrificed for the measurement of p,p' -DDT, p,p' -DDD and p,p' -DDE residues in the blood, brain, abdominal fat, liver and kidneys. The results show that phenobarbital lowers markedly the concentration of total residues in the fat tissue and brain and that norethandrolone brings about a reduction of the residues in the blood, brain and kidneys, but not in the fat tissue. On the opposite, 3,4-benzopyrene produces an increase of the residues in the brain, liver and kidneys. Phenobarbital thus appears to be more efficacious than the other two inducers in facilitating the elimination of DDT residues from the fat tissue. In addition, it appears that under the experimental conditions used during this investigation, the elimination of DDT residues is not further accelerated by combining the inducers one with each other.

The effect of norethandrolone on organic ion transport by rat renal cortical slices

Norethandrolone (NE) and other androgenic steroids have been shown to be renotropic in various species and have also been reported to have salutary effects in patients with diminished renal function. Renal cortical slices prepared from rats pretreated with NE showed an increased capability to concentrate p-aminohippuric acid (PAH). Pretreatment with NE failed to stimulate the transport of the organic base tetraethylammonium and the organic acid benzylpenicillin. Stimulation of PAH transport was observed after eight daily subcutaneous injections of NE. No stimulation was observed with shorter pretreatment intervals. When NE was given subcutaneously for 14 days at doses of 2.6 or 20 mg kg-1 day-1, significant stimulation of PAH transport was seen at all three dose levels but no dose-effect relationship was apparent. Stimulation of PAH transport was seen in female rats as well as castrated and intact males. In addition to its general anabolic properties, NE induces the synthesis of hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes. For comparative purposes, therefore, the effect of pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile (PCN) was also investigated. This agent is a potent inducer of drug metabolism but is neither anabolic nor renotropic. When rats were pretreated with an inducing dose of PCN (75 mg kg-1 day-1 for 3 days), there was no significant stimulation of PAH transport. It would seem, then, that the stimulatory effect of NE on PAH transport is more closely associated with its generalized anabolic effect than with its ability to induce hepatic microsomal enzymes.

Effect of anabolic steroids on plasma antithrombin III. alpha2 macroglobulin and alpha1 antitrypsin levels

The effect of seven different anabolic steroids (Ethyloestrenol, Methenolone acetate, Norethandrolone, Methylandrostenediol, Oxymetholone, Methandienone, and Stanozolol) on three alpha-globulin antiprotease inhibitors of thrombin and plasmin was studied in men with ischaemic heart disease. In distinct contrast to the oral contraceptives, five of the six 17-alpha-alkylated anabolic steroids studied produced increased plasma Antithrombin III levels and five produced decreased levels of plasma alpha2-macroglobulin. The effect on plasma alpha1-antitrypsin levels was less clear-cut but three of the steroids examined produced significantly elevated levels. The increased plasma fibrinolytic activity which the 17-alpha-alkylated anabolic steroids induce is therefore unlikely to be secondary to disseminated intravascular coagulation.

[The effect of pretreatment with enzyme inducers on the acute toxicity of DDT (1, 1-bis-(p-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane) in rats]

A study was undertaken to investigate the influence of various hepatic enzyme inducers on the acute toxicity of the organohalogenated insecticide DDT. Adult female rats were pretreated with sodium phenobarbital (50 mg/kg/day during 5 days), 3-methylocholanthrene (20 mg/kg/day during 3 days), and norethandrolone (20 mg/kg/day during 14 days), and were then given 150 mk/kg of DDT per os. Phenobarbital was shown to lower the toxicity of DDT, norethandrolone had the opposite effect, and 3-methylcholanthrene was without any significant effect. After a phenobarbital pretreatment, the cerebral concentration of DDT was lowered, possibly as a result of an increased biotransformation of DDT to DDD in the liver. On the other hand, norethandrolone did not appear to modify the hepatic conversion of DDT to DDD, nor the cerebral concentration of DDT. Further studies are needed to explain the potentiating effect of norethandrolone on the acute toxicity of DDT.

[Association of Fanconi's disease and hepatic tumor in a patient undergoing long-term androgen treatment]

A Fanconi's disease was discovered in a 9 1/2 year old girl. She received androgens daily and died with a severe aplastic attack after 4 years of evolution. Hepatic involvement of treatment with androgens was regularly checked. Autopsy however, showed a multinodular adenoma of the liver without any malignant manifestation. Relationships between aplastic anemia, long-term treatment with androgens and tumour of the liver are discussed. The difficulty of in vivo diagnosis is emphasized.

Study of the lipid-lowering action of choloxin and nilevar in patients with chronic renal failure

Lowering of lipids in patients with chronic renal failure is advantageous but cannot be done by calorie restriction. In a controlled study the anabolic steroid norethandrolone (Nilevar) was found to lower triglycerides by 50%, while D-thyroxine (Choloxin) lowered the cholesterol by 25%. Both drugs increased the activity of lipoprotein lipase in spite of uraemic inhibition. Norethandrolone also reduced basal serum insulin levels. Norethandrolone seems appropriate for underweight patients and D-thyroxine for overweight patients, but side effects are more frequent than in non-uraemic patients.

The effect of alteration of thyroxine binding capacity on the dialyzable and absolute fractions of triiodothyronine in circulation

In order to determine the effect of alterations in binding capacity of thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) on triiodothyronine (T3) metabolism, studies were conducted in 10 patients with idiopathically low (7 subjects) or elevated (3 subjects) TBG levels and 10 subjects given norethandrolone (7 male subjects) or oestrogen (3 female subjects). Measurements of serum thyroxine (T4) concentration, maximal T4 binding capacity, serum T3 concentration and per cent dialyzable T3 were conducted. Serum T3 was measured both by chemical and radioimmunoassay methods. In patients with idiopathically low TBG, the mean serum T4 concentration was low (2.4 μg/100 ml), the mean serum T3 level low (55 ng/100 ml), the mean per cent dialyzable T3 increased (0.52%), and the calculated free T3 concentration normal (186 pg/100 ml). In patients with idiopathically high TBG levels the mean T4 concentration was high (10.3 μg/100 ml), the mean T3 level slightly elevated (127 ng/100 ml), the% dialyzable T3 low (0.10%) and the calculated free T3 concentration low normal (123 pg/100 ml).

The correlation coefficient between the per cent dialyzable T3 and maximal TBG binding capacity in the 20 subjects was 0.68, a value significant at the P < 0.01 level. Thus, alterations in binding capacity of TBG seem to influence T3 and T4 metabolism similarly; the inverse relationship between the % of dialyzable hormone and total hormone concentration tends to keep the absolue levels of free hormones stable.

Effect of repeated oestrogen administration on oestrous behaviour in ovariectomized ewes

The effects of repeated injections of oestradiol benzoate (ODB) on the behavioural oestrous responses of ovariectomized ewes were studied using a pool of 144 animals. Oestradiol benzoate (15·6–421·2 μg) injected at intervals of 4 or 6 days produced a gradual decrease in the number of ewes showing induced oestrous behaviour. The response eventually fell below 10% at which time the ewes were defined to be refractory to oestrogenic stimulation of behavioural oestrus. When a continuous variable was used as a measure of response an immediate effect was observed; after the second injection of ODB the duration of oestrous behaviour decreased while the time to onset of oestrous behaviour showed a corresponding increase when compared with the first injection. However the proportion of ewes responding remained unaltered, indicating that continuous variables are a more sensitive measure of refractoriness. Treatment of refractory ewes with the progestagens progesterone, SC-9880 or Nilevar restored normal oestrous behaviour. These results are interpreted to mean that oestrogens (15–400 μg) act to increase thresholds for subsequent oestrogen stimulation of behavioural oestrus, while progestagens (1–10 mg) act to decrease this threshold.

Effects of norethandrolone on the transport and peripheral metabolism of thyroxine in patients lacking thyroxine-binding globulin. Observations on the physiological role of thyroxine-binding prealbumin

Studies of the effect of norethandrolone on the transport and peripheral metabolism of thyroxine were carried out in four patients lacking thyroxine-binding globulin. Before norethandrolone administration, values for serum protein-bound iodine (PBI) were decreased (1.8 +/-0.5 mug/100 ml) and the proportion of free thyroxine increased (0.036 +/-0.008%). As a result, values for the absolute concentration of free thyroxine iodine were at the lower end of the normal range (0.63 +/-0.12 mmug/100 ml). During the control thyroxine-turnover study, the thyroxine distribution space was strikingly increased (18.2 +/-7.9 liters) and the fractional rate of thyroxine turnover moderately increased (17.1 +/-11.3%/day), as compared to the expected mean values for normal subjects. Therefore, calculated values for the daily rate of thyroxine clearance were increased even more, ranging between 255 and 500% of normal values. However, owing to the low PBI in these patients, the daily disposal of thyroxine iodine was similar to that expected in normals on the basis of age and weight. During the administration of norethandrolone, the thyroxine-binding capacity of the thyroxine-binding prealbumin increased strikingly in all patients, values averaging 162% of those found during the control period. This increase was associated with a highly significant increase in PBI (133% of control values) and a small but significant decrease in the proportion of free thyroxine, resulting in no significant change in the absolute concentration of free thyroxine iodine. In all four patients, administration of norethandrolone was associated with a pronounced decrease in the thyroxine distribution space to values which averaged 69% of those found during the control period. Values for the fractional rate of thyroxine turnover increased slightly. As a result, thyroxine-clearance rate decreased in all patients. Owing to the reciprocal changes in clearance rate and PBI, no significant change in total daily thyroxine disposal was observed. The present studies reveal that when the thyroxine-binding prealbumin is increased in patients lacking thyroxine-binding globulin, several indices of peripheral thyroxine transport and metabolism are altered. However, these changes were small, even in the absence of thyroxine-binding globulin. It is suggested, therefore, that the effect of changes in thyroxine-binding prealbumin would be even smaller in individuals in whom thyroxine-binding globulin is present.

Influence of neonatal gestagen injection on the differentiation of psychosexuality in female rats

The influence of neonatal injection of gestagens with androgenic, oestrogenic, or no side activities on sexual behaviour differentiation was studied in female rats. Single injections of norethindrone acetate, ethinodiol diacetate and norethindrone oenanthate, which are steroids with inherent oestrogenic activities, suppressed the capacity to display lordosis responses in adult life after hormonal stimulation. Both norethindrone esters also caused a certain shift of psychosexuality towards masculinity. The incidence of bisexuality was, however, extremely low in all the rats.

Androgenic gestagens, i. e. d.l-norgestrel and norethandrolone, did not suppress female differentiation of sexuality; there was moreover no increase in male behavioural patterns. Norhydroxyprogesterone caproate, megestrol acetate and a new synthetic progesterone derivative (clomegestone acetate), all steroids with no side activities, were without any effect on mating behaviour differentiation. Allylestrenol and medroxyprogesterone acetate suppressed the capacity to display feminine mating patterns but did not induce male behaviour. It is most likely, however, that this result is due to the administration of higher gestagen doses rather than to any side effects of either steroid.

The effect of norethandrolone (Nilevar) on growth in the female guinea-pig

The effect of norethandrolone (17α-ethyl-19-nortestosterone), an anabolic steroid, on growth in the female guinea-pig under normal conditions and conditions of mild stress, has been studied. Norethandrolone (and hydrocortisone acetate) reduced the adrenal weights of the test animals. Both norethandrolone-treated and hydrocortisone-treated groups of guinea-pigs stressed by heart puncture under ether anaesthesia continued to gain weight, whilst the control animals showed a temporary loss in weight. The results suggest that norethandrolone inhibits the release of ACTH in the female guinea-pig.