Twenty-one samples of surgically removed benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) were brought to the laboratory either in an insulated container (ambient temperature) or on ice. They were cleaned and roughly minced at room temperature. In 18 cases, samples of up to 1 g were kept at various temperatures (4 degrees C, c. 20 degrees C, and 37 degrees C) for up to 77 h; some were taken for storage (-70 degrees C) at the beginning and others at various times within this period. In three cases, portions of tissue were incubated in liquid medium in the absence and presence of testosterone. The concentrations of six androgens (testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (5 alpha-DHT), 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol, androstenedione, 5 alpha-androstanedione, and androsterone) were measured by radioimmunoassays. The results indicated that in conditions resembling those after death, the BPH tissue content of 5 alpha-DHT falls to a variable degree, while concentrations of 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol, 5 alpha-androstanedione, and androsterone increase. After 2 to 3 days, the 5 alpha-DHT concentrations remained greater than those reported previously from this laboratory (and others) in normal prostate tissue removed at autopsy.

1. Histomonas meleagridis was inoculated into young chickens and turkeys and the effect of the infection (blackhead) on circulating growth hormone (GH) and prolactin concentrations determined. 2. During the course of the infection in turkeys there was a marked increase in plasma GH concentration which correlated with the severity of the disease, as judged by liver and caecal characteristics. The infection was less severe in chickens and no correlation between plasma GH and the degree of infection was observed. 3. The concentration of plasma prolactin was increased in the chicken, but not in the turkey, during the invasive period of infection.