Changes in the Sialic Acid Content of the Accessory Glands of the Male Rat

Abstract

SUMMARY Sialic acid is secreted by the testis, epididymis, ductus deferens and Cowper's gland of the male albino rat. Castration results in a considerable reduction in the sialic acid content of these organs. Androgen administration to castrated rats elevates the sialic acid levels in Cowper's gland to control values, while that of the other organs is only partially restored. This is probably due to the presence of spermatozoa in the epididymis in the control animals and is supported by the decreased values of sialic acid in animals with ligatures. The physiological integrity of the epididymal canal and Cowper's gland is thus dependent on the circulating levels of androgen.

Functional maturation of the epididymis in the rat

“…The weight changes in the accessory organs and epididymis up to 60 days of age probably reflect true tissue growth, whereas in sexually mature rats they reflect both the tissue growth and an increase in their secretory products. This supposition is substantiated by the present observations on testosterone-treated prepubertal rats and those on adult castrated rats (Rajalakshmi & Prasad, 1968 ;Brooks, Hamilton & Mallek, 1974).…”

“…Since nearly 80 % of the testicular fluid is resorbed in the proximal epididymis (Howards, Johnson & Jessee, 1975), no dilution in the sialic acid level is to be expected in the cauda epididymidis at puberty ; at all the ages examined the cauda generally contained higher sialic acid concentrations. Previous investigators have reported that the sialic acid concentration in the epididymis is androgen-dependent (Peyre & Laporte, 1966;Rajalakshmi & Prasad, 1968). The present study, however, has shown that androgen does not influence the sialic acid level in the epididymis of prepubertal rats : its continued rise in the epididymis even before sperm entry indicates that this constituent is locally synthesized.…”

Changes in the composition of the excurrent duct system of the rat testis during postnatal development

“…In general, the results of the analyses were similar to those of comparable previous studies (Schmidt & Thannhauser, 1945;Schneider, 1945;Warren, 1959;Scott, Dawson & Rowlands, 1963;Ewing, Means, Beames & Montgomery, 1966;Fournier, 1966;Peyre & Laporte, 1966;Rajalakshmi & Prasad, 1968,1969,1971Kar et al, 1968;Johnson, 1970;Turner & Johnson, 1971 ;Knox, 1972;Riar, Setty & Kar, 1973). The DNA levels were, however, slightly lower than those of previous reports (Fujii & Koyama, 1962;Desjardins, MacMillan & Hafs, 1968;Knox, 1972 (Hartree & Srivastava, 1965) and would contribute to sialic acid levels in the testis, spermatozoa do not enter the epididymis until puberty.…”

Direct assay of bound sialic acids on rat spermatozoa from the caput and cauda epididymidis

“…One major drawback of this method is that the acid treatment of intact cells also releases other cellular components such as 2-deoxyribose (Warren, 1959), glycosides and fatty acids (Kuwahara, 1980) that can interfere with the subsequent thiobarbiturate reaction. To override the interference, a correction control is needed (Rajalakshmi & Prasad, 1968). To eliminate the interference, additional purification or extraction of the free sialic acids is required (Warren, 1963;Svennerholm, 1963;Roboz, Suttajit & Bekesi, 1981).…”