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Aromatization and 5-Reduction of Androgens in Discrete Hypothalamic and Limbic Regions of the Male and Female Rat¹

Reproductive E7idocrinology Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, School of Medicine San Francisco, California 94143

Abstract

The in vitro aromatization and 5-reduction of androgens to estrogens and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were determined in incubations of microdissected brain regions of male and female gonadectomized, adrenalectomized rats. Metabolites formed from [l,2-3H]androstenedione or [l,2-3H]testosterone were purified by celite liquid-liquid partition chromatography, silica gel chromatography and recrystallization to stable ³H/¹⁴C ratios. The medial preoptic nucleus-anterior hypothalamic nucleus exhibited the highest aromatase activity and the second highest conversion to DHT. The lateral preoptic and lateral hypothalamic nuclei showed little aromatase activity yet exhibited high rates of formation of DHT. The medial basal hypothalamus showed the second highest level of aromatase activity but consistently formed the lowest amount of DHT. The discrete anatomical localization of these enzymatic conversions is suggestive of their being involved in the physiological actions of androgens.

Footnotes

¹ Supported in part by NIH grants HD08924 and HD08692 and a center grant from The Rockefeller Foundation.

² Postdoctoral Fellow of The Rockefeller Foundation. Present address (for reprints): Department of Physiology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, 660 West Redwood Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.

Abbreviations used for the nuclear dissections are as follows: MPN—medial preoptic nucleus, AHN—anterior hypothalamic nucleus, LPN—lateral preoptic nucleus, LHN—lateral hypothalamic nucleus, MBH—medial basal hypothalamus and Am—amygdaloid complex.

Received October 26, 1976.

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